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Electoral Commission has begun the public display of the personal particulars and academic credentials of presidential candidates for the 2027 general election.

The exercise, which took off on Saturday, features documents submitted by President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and running mate, Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Copies of Tinubu’s Form EC9 sighted showed his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University, United States, which his transcript indicated was awarded “with honours” on June 22, 1979.

The form also carried his National Youth Service Corps discharge documents, which showed he served in Oyo State from December 1982 and was demobilised in November 1983.

His work history, as listed in the form, showed three employers: Mobil Nigeria Limited, where he worked from 1983 to 1992 and left on account of “advancement”; the Lagos State Government, where he served from 1999 to 2007 until the “legal end of tenure”; and the Federal Government of Nigeria, where he has worked from 2023 till date.

The years listed against his primary and secondary school attendance in the same form were entered as “0000,” with only his university qualification, a B.Sc obtained in 1979, indicated.

The President’s personal information section listed his date of birth as March 29, 1952, and his age as 74.

It also listed his birthplace as Lagos, his residential address as No. 4, Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi, and his occupation as “politician.”

For Shettima, the displayed documents traced his education from primary school.

His Certificate of Primary Education, issued by the Ministry of Education, North-Eastern State, showed he attended Lamisula I Primary School between 1972 and 1978, finishing second out of 22 pupils in his final year, with English, History and Religious Knowledge listed as his strongest subjects.

His West African Examinations Council result, obtained at Government Secondary School, Potiskum, in June 1983, showed six credits and passes, including a distinction in Religious Knowledge and Economics.

He proceeded to the University of Maiduguri, where records showed he bagged a Second Class Upper Division degree in Agriculture in August 1989, before earning a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan.

His NYSC discharge certificate indicated he served from October 1989 to October 1990.

The display, contained in Form EC9, is a statutory requirement under Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which mandates INEC to publish candidates’ particulars within 21 days of receipt.

In a statement, the commission explained Form EC9 contains the credentials, personal particulars and affidavits submitted by candidates.

“Form EC9 contains the credentials, personal particulars and affidavits submitted by candidates sponsored by political parties,” INEC stated.

The documents were displayed at INEC offices nationwide, including its Lagos State office in Sabo-Yaba and Local Government Area offices within affected constituencies.

The Electoral Act empowers members of the public to apply to INEC for certified true copies of nomination forms and other documents submitted by candidates, and to seek legal redress over allegations of false declaration or forgery.

Campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled to begin on August 19, while those for governorship and state assembly elections will follow later, in line with the commission’s revised timetable.

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Richest man globally, Elon Musk has said Nigeria alone had four million more births than the entire European Union.

Musk made the claim on his X account on Saturday, citing his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, as the source of the information.

“Nigeria alone had 4 million more births than the entire EU last year,” he wrote on X.

Musk’s remarks highlight Nigeria’s high birth rate compared with the European Union.

Available data from Musk’s Grok showed that Nigeria recorded an estimated 7.8 million births in 2025, while the European Union had 3.5 million births.

This means Nigeria recorded approximately four million more births than the EU.

Recall that in February 2026, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said 14 million Nigerian children had their births officially registered over the previous two years, marking significant progress in legal identity coverage.

Africa’s most populous country continues to record a high birth rate, placing further strain on its already fragile economy.

World Bank data showed that Nigeria’s poverty rate stood at 63 percent in 2025 amid rising economic hardship fueled by the skyrocketing cost of living.

Meanwhile, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit that, for the first time, the country’s economy was growing faster than its population, which is estimated at 250 million.

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The Presidency has rubbished comments by Cardinal John Onaiyekan criticising the administration of President Bola Tinubu, insisting that the Catholic cleric was expressing a personal and political opinion rather than speaking on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, made the remarks in a post on his X account on Saturday.

Bwala’s comments came in response to Onaiyekan’s criticism of the Tinubu administration after the recent visit of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, to the President.

The cardinal had accused the government of being more focused on winning by all means than addressing the country’s challenges.

Reacting, Bwala alleged that Onaiyekan was speaking for the Catholic Church and not the entire Christian community, claiming that the institution largely supported Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, during the 2023 election.

He argued that the cardinal’s comments were political rather than spiritual, adding that not all Catholics supported Obi during the election.

According to Bwala, President Tinubu was within his rights to disagree with the bishops’ assessment of Nigeria’s economy, maintaining that the administration’s position was backed by “facts, statistics and numbers.”

The presidential spokesman also contended that there is a broader Christian body comprising different denominations, including the Catholic Church and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, whose position, he said, should remain neutral rather than political.

Bwala said: “Cardinal Onaiyekan, wasn’t speaking for Christian’s, he was speaking for Catholics, the very institutions rooting for Peter Obi @PeterObi infact likely the institution where Peter Obi also said in 2022 “take back your country “.

“Therefore , Cardinal is more political than spiritual. And not all catholic members are supporting peter Obi. The president @officialABAT was well within his right to disagree with their assertion as regards Nigeria’s economy based purely on facts, stats and numbers factored into context.

“Ironically, the same priest would rebuke their members if the members said “we are suffering or we are poor” they would tell them to rather say “we are doing great and or we are rich even when they are suffering or poor”

“There is a body comprising all Christian’s including the Catholics and catholic bishops conference and that body’s position is neutral and should be so, otherwise it is political.”