An American university, the Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT), has confirmed that the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, attended the school.
The management of the school revealed on Thursday that Mr Rhodes-Vivour obtained a Master’s Degree in Architecture after studying at the institution between 2005 and 2008.
The school was reacting to reports circulating on social media suggesting that the governorship candidate did not attend the university.
Mr Rhodes-Vivour became a subject of scrutiny recently after an email purportedly sent by the Registar of MIT appeared on social media claiming that the candidate did not attend the institution.
The email quoted Nathaniel Hagee, a coordinator at MIT academic record office, that there was no record Mr Rhodes-Vivour graduated from the university.
The mail was alleged to be a response to an enquiry made by a Nigerian on the educational status of Mr Rhodes-Vivour.
Mr Rhodes-Vivour had via his Twitter handle reacted to the forgery allegation as fake news and another attempt by his opponents to divert attention from an issue-based campaign.
“It has been brought to my attention that the purported email below is in circulation with respect to my degree from @MIT
“This is untrue and another failed strategy the opposition is using to divert your attention from having an issue-based campaign,” he tweeted
A Nigerian media platform, PREMIUM TIMES, contacted the MIT records office and spoke with Mr Hagee via telephone, on Wednesday, seeking to know the true position of things.
Hagee requested the medium to write a formal letter on the subject, which it did.
Mr Hagee subsequently directed that all questions should be directed to MIT’s News Office.
“When PREMIUM TIMES contacted MIT’s News Office, Sarah McDonnell, Deputy Director, Media Relations, responded that Mr Rhodes-Vivour indeed attended the school and earned a Master’s degree.
“Thank you for reaching out. The MIT Registrar’s Office can confirm that Mr Rhodes-Vivour attended MIT from 2005 to 2008 and earned a Master of Architecture degree,” Ms McDonnell wrote.
The newspaper then followed up with another email to Ms McDonnell, asking if the initial email that claimed that Mr Rhodes-Vivour did not attend the school emanated from the record office.
In her response, MIT spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the mail, noting that it indeed emanated from MIT. She, however, claimed that the record office initially ran a search using a “variation of Mr Rhodes-Vivour’s name that did not match the information in MIT’s database.”
