The recent revelation by President Bola Tinubu that a Belarusian man, identified as Alex Sigman, is an old friend from Chicago State University, has attracted some scrutinizing remarks from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Naija News recalls that the duo met on Monday, June 23, 2025, at the inauguration of tractors in Abuja.
While standing for recognition at the event, President Tinubu addressed Sigman as a successful businessman from Belarus.
Tinubu said Sigman was his neighbour when he was schooling in the United States, and they never expected to see themselves in the position they are today, adding that their institution would be proud of the moment.
However, Atiku, in a statement on Tuesday from his media office, said the revelation has raised more confusion, and Nigerians deserve an answer.
The statement from Atiku claimed that Sigman’s reputation appears linked with various international scandals, and it is a troubling development for the Nigerian leader to be associated with such a person.
He also raised discrepancies on the Belarusian’s age as it relates to President Tinubu’s academic history, submitting that by the year 1979, when President Tinubu claims to have graduated from CSU, Mr. Sigman would have been only 13 years old.
Atiku further raised questions about Tinubu’s long-contested academic history, noting that the presidency is not a sanctuary for secrets, but a platform for integrity, and therefore, Nigerians should be provided proof and clarity.
He therefore requested the President to clarify if the Belarusian businessman detailed in his write-up is the same one described as a schoolmate of the President.
“During the inauguration of the Renewed Hope Mechanisation Programme in Abuja yesterday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made what appeared to be a lighthearted revelation — that a certain Mr. Alex Zingman was his classmate at Chicago State University (CSU). But rather than evoke confidence, the claim has triggered more questions than answers, particularly regarding the President’s long-contested academic history.
“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. By the year 1979, when President Tinubu claims to have graduated from CSU, Mr. Zingman would have been only 13 years old.
“Are we now to believe that the Guinness Book of Records missed the story of a 13-year-old Belarusian prodigy graduating from an American university alongside Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“Even more troubling is the President’s casual association with a man whose international reputation is mired in scandal.
“This leads us to ask, with the solemn weight of patriotism and the urgency of truth:
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know why a man born in 1966 is being paraded as your classmate who graduated in 1979. Were you taught in the same classroom or in different decades?
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know if the Alex Zingman of global infamy — the arms-linked tycoon — shares the same seat in your memories or only in a script of fiction.
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know why the mystery around your academic record deepens with every attempt to clarify it. Who truly walked the halls of Chicago State University with you?
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know why, since you claim to have presented a certificate from Government College, Lagos to gain entry into Richard Daley College in 1973, no classmate from that institution has ever spoken of sharing a desk with you.
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know how a school founded in 1972 could issue you a certificate dated 1970—unless you were a lone prophet of a school yet unborn.
“Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know why you have not proudly unveiled a single verifiable classmate from your supposed years in Government College, Lagos or Government College, Ibadan or Chicago State University, the way other leaders do with ease and pride.
“Mr. President, your oath of office binds you not just to protect our nation but to honour its truth. The Presidency is not a sanctuary for secrets — it is a platform for integrity. And as such, Nigerians await not tales of Alexes from distant lands but proof, clarity, and the simple dignity of facts,” Atiku said in the statement.
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