Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communications Phrank Shaibu has criticized the BBC for its fact-check investigation that found no proof that President Bola Tinubu’s Chicago State University (CSU) diploma was a forgery.

 

In a statement released on Wednesday, Shaibu referred to the report as a “hatchet job,” noting that the outrage it caused among most Nigerians was ample evidence that the BBC had made a mistake.

The BBC’s action, according to Atiku’s adviser, was not unexpected because it came after a previous comment he made in which he claimed that the Tinubu administration was going to launch its full propaganda campaign.

“Sometime last week, when the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) issued a final warning to Arise News TV, we pointed out that the Tinubu administration was on the verge of launching a full-blown propaganda and also intimidating ‘uncooperative’ media houses into discrediting and downplaying the CSU scandal.

“Sadly, we never imagined that it would be the BBC that would become the willing tool.

“It is unconscionable, appalling and preposterous that in this current information age, a foreign medium of repute could try to bamboozle Nigerians with a jaundiced report when the details are clear for everyone to see.

“Thank God young Nigerians have begun filing complaints against the hack writers who decided to soil their names for a bowl of porridge.

“We are not ignorant of the machinations of the BBC and its bias towards the current government. Unfortunately, the BBC is not upholding the same standards as they would uphold in the UK where a Prime Minister was forced out of office for hosting a party during COVID-19.

“In 2009, columnist Mehdi Hasan wrote in the New Statesman that the BBC was biased ‘towards power and privilege, tradition and orthodoxy.’

 

“It is no wonder that in the last one year, the only news medium that was given exclusive access to interview Tinubu was the BBC.

“It is sickening that the BBC has decided to surrender its platform to a man who was accused of illegal drug trafficking in the United States.

“In the so-called fact-check report, the BBC decided to bury in the last paragraphs the fact that Tinubu claimed to have attended Government College, Lagos in 1970 when the school was established in 1974. Why didn’t these so-called fact-checkers reflect it on their headline?

“Tinubu said at Chatham House that he had received a replacement from CSU when the school said in unambiguous terms that he had not done so.

“What was the date he applied for his INEC replacement certificate from CSU, and when was it issued to him?

“The investigation was clearly carried out with a predetermined goal, which was to clear Tinubu. But let us ask the BBC if they would employ anyone who has had a case of drug trafficking in the US before and if he had three dates of birth in his official records as well as two different genders as well as attending a secondary school before it was established”, Shaibu stated.

Shaibu urged the BBC and other fact-checkers to be more cautious, saying their job was too important to allow for mistakes.

“On November 28, 2022, Africa Check, one of the highly funded fact check organisations, claimed that the report by the opposition that Tinubu had lied that he attended Government College, Lagos was false.

“After Atiku Abubakar, through his daring court case, decided to blow open the lid, it turned out that the opposition was right all along.

“Till date, Africa Check has also not apologised for misleading the public. This is the new reality that we face. Who will fact-check the fact-checkers?”

Shaibu recommended news establishments increase their investments in investigative journalism.

“If the BBC had invested in proper investigative journalism, it would have been the one uncovering some of Tinubu’s scandals instead of relying on Atiku for information on Tinubu’s certificates.”