By BONIFACE AKARAH

A Sweden-based Nigerian and Founder of Worldview International, Kio Amachree, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the courts, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to halt President Bola Tinubu's participation in the 2027 presidential election, alleging constitutional, legal and national security concerns arising from the President's nomination documents.

In an open letter dated August 2 and addressed to the INEC Chairman, the judiciary, the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the DSS, Amachree argued that the publication of Tinubu's Form EC9 for the 2027 election had raised issues that, according to him, required urgent investigation and resolution before the President could be cleared to contest.

He claimed that the nomination form left sections relating to the President's primary and secondary education blank while raising questions over his employment history and previous legal matters in the United States.

"The affidavit leaves the primary and secondary education fields entirely blank, for the second consecutive election cycle, offering only a 1979 university degree whose published certificate is barely legible," Amachree wrote.

He further alleged that the affidavit listed only one private employer before Tinubu entered politics and referenced previous controversies surrounding the President's employment claims.

"The affidavit lists a single private employer in an entire pre-political lifetime, Mobil Nigeria Limited, after the candidate's previously claimed employment at Deloitte was denied by that firm itself in response to a lawful subpoena," he stated.

Amachree urged INEC to withhold Tinubu's name from the ballot until the electoral commission had independently verified his educational qualifications and other credentials.

"You are not a post office. You are a constitutional body with power under Section 318 to satisfy yourselves of a candidate's qualifications. I demand that you formally require of this candidate certified evidence of primary and secondary education, verifiable authentication of the university certificate directly from the issuing institution, and a sworn explanation of the discrepancies in his employment history, and that you decline to place his name on the ballot until and unless these are produced," he said.

He also appealed to the judiciary to determine the substantive issues surrounding the President's eligibility whenever such matters come before the courts.

"History is watching to see whether the judiciary of Nigeria will ever allow the substance, the forfeiture record, the sworn contradictions, the blank spaces, to be examined in open court with full evidence," he stated.

Amachree further called on the Inspector-General of Police to investigate what he described as alleged false declarations contained in Tinubu's nomination forms, while urging the DSS to assess whether unresolved foreign investigative records relating to the President posed any national security concerns.

"Perjury is a crime. False declaration to a public authority is a crime. I demand the opening of a criminal investigation into the sworn contents of the Form EC9 filings of 2022 and 2026... No citizen is above the criminal law," he wrote.

Addressing Nigerians, Amachree urged citizens to scrutinise public documents and hold institutions accountable.

"INEC must act. The courts must hear. The police must investigate. The DSS must assess. And if every institution fails, the Nigerian people must remember in January 2027 that the final tribunal in a democracy sits in the polling booth," he said.

Note: The claims contained in Amachree's letter are his allegations and demands. The statement does not include responses from President Tinubu, INEC, the Nigeria Police Force or the DSS. Their positions were not contained in the document.

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