BBC Reacts To Backlash On Report About Tinubu’s CSU Certificate

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reacted to the criticism and backlash that followed its report which debunked claims that the certificate obtained by President Bola Tinubu from the Chicago State University (CSU) is forged.

Recall that the BBC had last week disclosed that there is no evidence that President Tinubu forged his Chicago State University (CSU) certificate.

The BBC, in a report titled: ‘Bola Tinubu diploma: No evidence Nigeria’s president forged college record’, revealed that their findings vindicate the Nigerian president of certificate forgery as alleged.

However, the report had been trailed by condemnation from certain quarters including the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The Atiku camp went ahead to lodge a formal complaint with the BBC management about the article.

But following the backlash, the BBC in a letter signed by its Complaints Team, and addressed to its Audience Member at the weekend, said it is regrettable that some persons were unhappy with their findings.

The news organization however stated that that it is standing by the report because it believes the article is the truth, adding that the CSU also confirmed the authenticity of the certificate before they went public with the story.

The BBC letter reads: “Dear Audience Member. Thank you for taking time to write to us.

“We received a number of similar complaints and we regret that you are unhappy with our findings on this matter. We have looked into this and the BBC has not seen any evidence that the certificate was forged. We contacted the Chicago State University and they confirmed that Bola Tinubu graduated from the university in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree. We believe our text piece has been informative and responsible, reporting known facts. We therefore stand by our journalism.”