It is not uncommon in Nigerian politics for candidates to be charged in court for various irregularities in their certificates prior to and after winning elections. Many Nigerians are also aware that politicians are winning cases in various courts. In all of these cases, the media has a significant impact on shaping people’s perceptions of the actors and other stakeholders, whether positively or negatively. Of course, the media cannot be told not to construct perceived reality, but it must do so in ways that do not cause unnecessary panic or chaos.
In this piece, our analyst looks at recent news about the ongoing Osun State Election Tribunal. The Tribunal was inaugurated after the former governor, Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola, approached it with the claim that there was excessive voting in the state’s 2022 governorship election and that the current governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is unqualified to hold the office because he previously forged his secondary school certificates.
According to their editorial philosophies and owners’ interests, Nigerian media have frequently used different frames to report proceedings at the Tribunal, with these allegations serving as the main focus of their reporting. According to our analyst, these reflected in the Tribunal’s recent coverage by Premium Times, The Guardian and The Nation.
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Information has it that “Olorunyomi is the co-founder, CEO, and publisher of the Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, which today is one of the most trusted newspapers in Nigeria and a standard for African investigative journalism.” The Guardian was established in 1983 by the entrepreneur Alex Ibru, assisted by Stanley Macebuh, a top journalist with the Daily Times newspapers. For years, the ownership of The Nation has been in secrecy. However, several information indicate that the newspaper is owned by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State.
The three newspapers differ and slightly align in their production approach, from the headline to the lead construction. Premium Times employs explicative headlines, whereas The Guardian and The Nation employ judgmental headlines, which have the potential to mislead readers. In other words, the two newspapers use click bait features that are related to information pollution, particularly misinformation (see Exhibit 1).
Premium Times appears to be more neutral than others, according to our analyst, because of its approach to representing the witness, Mr Bunmi Jenyo, and the new governor. For example, while The Guardian and The Nation believe the new governor is guilty of certificate forgery, Premium Times maintains a neutral position by including earlier information from a court that discharged the governor from the certificate forgery case. This is conspicuously absent from reports in The Guardian and The Nation (see Exhibit 1).
Premium Times
Governor Ademola Adeleke on Thursday presented an album of photographs of himself kitted in graduation gown before the Osun State election petition tribunal in Osogbo.
He accompanied the album with academic certificates and transcripts of Atlanta Metropolitan State College and Pen Foster High School which the governor claimed he attended in the United States.
A certified true copy of a judgement of the Appeal Court that discharged Mr Adeleke of an accusation of forgery was also presented before the tribunal.
The academic credentials and court judgement were brought to the tribunal by Bunmi Jenyo, a personal assistant to the governor.
Mr Jenyo appeared as a witness before the tribunal, claiming that the photographs of Mr Adeleke in a graduation gown were taken on the day of his graduation with a diploma on 6 May, 2021.
One of the allegations by the petitioners challenging Mr Adeleke’s victory in the 16 July governorship election is that he forged the academic certificates he presented for the election.
But when cross-examined by Akin Olujimi, SAN, counsel to the petitioners, Mr Jenyo said he attended the graduation ceremony in the U.S. and also took pictures with him at the ceremony.
“I traveled to the United States for the graduation. I arrived at the airport on 6th May, 2021 for the graduation and I have my passport here as evidence,” he said.
“I was part of the people in the photographs taken on the day of the graduation. The second respondent is also in the photograph. I attended the graduation ceremony,” he added.
“I have been a friend to the second petitioner for 10 years. Since our friendship, the second respondent has not been convicted for submitting forged certificates or documents,” he said.
“My duty is to keep his personal documents. He authorised me to come to the court with the documents that I presented.”
After Mr Olujimi said he would reserve his objection on the international passport of the witness as tendered for evidence till final address, the tribunal chairman, Tertsea Kume, admitted his Nigerian passport as exhibit.
The Guardian
The Chairman of the Osun State Chieftaincy Affairs Review Committee, Revd. Samuel Bunmi Jenyo, who claimed to be a Personal Assistant to Governor Ademola Adeleke, has said the governor obtained his degree in 24 days. Rev Jenyo said Adeleke obtained his Diploma Certificate in Penn Foster High School on 16th July, 2021 and degree from Atlanta Metropolitan College on 9th of August 2021.
Jenyo made the revelation last Thursday while testifying before the Justice Tertsea Kume-led tribunal at the resumed hearing of the petition filed by former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the declaration of Ademola Adeleke as the governor of the state.
Oyetola and the APC are challenging the declaration of Governor Adeleke on two grounds: over-voting and eligibility to run in view of alleged inconsistencies in his certificates.
Rev. Jenyo tendered Adeleke’s certificates, bearing Penn Foster High School and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. He also told the Tribunal during the cross examination that though he has never worked in any of the institutions purported to have been attended by the Governor, part of his responsibility as Adeleke’s Personal Assistant was to keep the governor’s personal documents, thus giving him access to his certificates and academic details. The witness also said that though his International Passport does not show he attended Adeleke’s graduation in US, he submitted that he attended the Graduation ceremony. After the Cross examination, Adeleke’s counsel closed his case.
Subsequently, counsel for PDP, Alex Izinyon, SAN, also opened his case and told the panel that he would not be calling any witness but would be relying on the evidence of the two other respondents. He then tendered some documents and closed his case.
It will be recalled that when Governor Adeleke was contesting in 2018, he claimed to have registered for GCE O’ Level in 1981 but had F9 in English Language and was recorded absent for other subjects. At the time, too, his profile on the website of the National Assembly also indicated that he was a holder of a Diploma Certificate in Criminology from Jacksonville State University (JSU), where he purportedly graduated from in 1986. But upon his return from abroad this year to contest the July Governorship election, the governor claimed that he had a diploma awarded to him mid last year, and that the said certificate qualified him for a B.Sc. in Criminal Justice, from the Atlanta Metropolitan State College in the United States. And he claimed to have obtained the degree barely 24 days after getting the said Diploma certificate (Delayed additional value with guilty frame)
The Nation
THE Chairman of the Osun State Chieftaincy Affairs Review Committee, Reverend Samuel Bunmi Jenyo, who claimed to be Personal Assistant to Governor Adeleke, has said the governor obtained his degree in 24 days. Rev. Jenyo said Adeleke obtained his Diploma Certificate in Penn Foster High School on 16th July, 2021 and degree from Atlanta Metropolitan College on 9th of August 2021. Jenyo made the revelation on Friday while testifying before the Justice Tertsea Kume-led tribunal at the resumed hearing of the petition filed by former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the declaration of Ademola Adeleke as the governor of the State.
Oyetola and the APC are challenging the declaration of Governor Adeleke on two grounds: over-voting and eligibility to run in view of alleged inconsistencies in his certificates. Rev. Jenyo tendered Adeleke’s certificates, bearing Penn Foster High School and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. He also told the Tribunal during the cross examination that though he has never worked in any of the institutions purported to have been attended by the Governor, part of his responsibility as Adeleke’s Personal Assistant was to keep the governor’s personal documents, thus giving him access to his certificates and academic details.
The witness also said that though his International Passport does not show he attended Adeleke’s graduation in US, he submitted that he attended the Graduation ceremony. After the Cross examination, Adeleke’s counsel closed his case. Subsequently, counsel for PDP, Alex Izinyon (SAN), also opened his case and told the panel that he would not be calling any witness but would be relying on the evidence of the two other respondents. He then tendered some documents and closed his case.
It will be recalled that when Governor Adeleke was contesting in 2018, he claimed to have registered for GCE O’ Level in 1981 but had F9 in English Language and was recorded absent for other subjects. But upon his return from abroad this year to contest the July governorship election, the governor allegedly claimed that he had a diploma awarded to him mid last year, and that the said certificate qualified him for a B.Sc. in Criminal Justice, from the Atlanta Metropolitan State College in the United States. And he claimed to have obtained the degree barely 24 days after getting the said Diploma certificate (Delayed additional value with guilty frame)