Reno Omokri, ambassador-designate to Mexico, has defended President Bola Tinubu over questions concerning his primary and secondary school education.
Omokri said many Nigerians of Tinubu’s generation did not attend conventional primary and secondary schools, arguing that the absence of certificates from those levels should not, on its own, be used to question the president’s qualifications.
He made the remarks on Sunday during an appearance on Channels Television’s *Politics Today*.
According to Omokri, homeschooling was common among some Nigerian families during the period when Tinubu would have been of primary and secondary school age.
“Are you aware that at the time the president went to primary school, at the time the president would have gone to primary school, secondary school, most Nigerians were not going to regular schools; a lot of them were being homeschooled,” he said.
Omokri also challenged critics of Tinubu’s educational background to provide evidence of their own primary school records and classmates.
“If you ask some of these opponents of the president to produce their primary school classmate, they cannot,” he said.
He cited his own family as an example, saying one of his children is homeschooled and that his Ethiopian wife was also homeschooled.
Omokri maintained that Tinubu meets the constitutional requirements to remain in office and seek re-election in 2027.
“We know for a fact that the president is qualified for the position he’s holding, for the position he wants to be reelected to,” he said.
On Tinubu’s tertiary education, Omokri pointed to the president’s time at Chicago State University in the United States.
He said the university’s registrar testified in court and confirmed that Tinubu was admitted to the institution, attended the university and graduated.
“He went to Chicago State University. The registrar of that school went to court, and they confirmed that Tinubu was admitted, attended, and graduated from that school. That is enough,” Omokri said.
