Group Calls Out Akin Ogunbiyi Over False PhD Claim

A group in the Osun PDP, Coalition of Osun PDP Youth Movement, has asked a gubernatorial aspirant on the ticket of the party, Akin Ogunbiyi to clear the air on allegation of false attainment of Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) which he has ascribed to himself severally both in political circles and media engagements.

The Coalition comprising of different youth groups in the PDP urged the guber aspirant to live within his capacity and stop claiming false educational status he never had, with the sole aim of deceiving members of the public.

The statement issued by the group on Tuesday reads:

A month-long investigation has busted the educational claim of a governorship aspirant in Osun state, Akin Ogunbiyi, the Chairman of Mutual Benefits Assurance.

Ogunbiyi is currently one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of PDP in Osun. He equally contested for the same office in 2018.

Throughout his 2018 campaigns, all his posters and branded materials described the politician as a Ph.D holder. In several interviews, he was also so addressed without any refuting.

From 2018 to date, the Ile Igbo-born politician reputed to be very close to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was also regularly referred to as a Ph.D holder.

As the new political season commences, Mr Ogunbiyi had also appeared on several media channels where he has regularly tagged a Ph.d holder.

Our investigations showed that from 2018 when he started his political career to date, Mr Ogunbiyi has never refuted the ascription of Ph.d.

He has also never clarified if the title is honorary and if so , which university conferred such honours on him.

A month long investigation of Mr Ogunbiyi’s educational qualifications showed that his highest educational attainment is an Executive MBA programme alongside some executive courses in several schools, locally and internationally.

He also graduated from the University of Ife with a BSc in Agricultural economics even though other records claimed the field of study was personnel management.

The most shocking part is that our checks did not reveal anywhere the insurance practitioner bagged Ph.D. as he publicly claimed.

It was further learned that while Mr Ogunbiyi claimed the Ph.D. title in his publications and political branding, he had never filled the title in his submission to his political party.

The fact that the politician never filled the Ph.D in his nomination forms may as well confirm our findings that he indeed possessed no Ph.D qualifications.

The politician may thus be guilty of lying to the public and deceiving Osun people in a bid to gain an advantage in his bid for the governorship.

All calls put to Mr Ogunbiyi’s line concerning this were not answered. We however promise to follow through and dig to the roots of what appears like a deliberate falsification of educational status of the aspirant which has gone unchecked over the years.

Signed

Coalition of Osun PDP Youth Movement.