Atiku demands further explanation from Tinubu on ‘Chicago Classmate’

By, Joke Thomas

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over Tinubu’s casual connection with an individual whose global reputation is reportedly tainted by controversy.

The former Vice President stated, “A basic review of publicly available information immediately calls the President’s claim into question. Mr. Alex Zingman, a Belarusian businessman whose name features prominently in controversial dealings across Africa, including allegations of arms trafficking and financial improprieties in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo — is listed in various reports as being born in 1966.

Atiku’s camp are claiming , among other things that, Tinubu attended Chicago State University from 1977 to 1979, where he earned a BSc in Accounting.

Whereas, Alexander Zingman, on the other hand, studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago between 1991 and 1995 for a master’s degree in Business Marketing.

That’s not just a different school ; it’s a different academic level, in a different decade.

Add to that the fact that Tinubu was born in 1952 and Zingman in 1966 , a 15-year age gap. By the time Zingman even began his graduate education, Tinubu had long since left university, returned to Nigeria, and was already active in public service and politics.

So how does a man in his mid-40s in 1995, with a degree earned 16 years earlier, suddenly become a “schoolmate” of a man in his late 20s pursuing a graduate degree at a completely different institution?

The timelines don’t align. The schools don’t match. The ages don’t support it. The entire claim is a fiction — an easily disapproval tale that insults the intelligence of anyone with access to public records. The truth, unlike propaganda, is not bound by loyalty. It is bound by facts