Tinuade Sanda, a former managing director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), has been parading non-existent academic credentials to confer undue advantages on herself.

Sanda was sacked from her role by the company on April 17 and given three months’ salary in lieu of a statutory notice of disengagement. Prior to her role as the company’s chief executive officer, she worked as a chief accounting officer in the same organisation.

Firing her in April, the company wrote, “We hereby advise you that your services are no longer required and accordingly your employment with WPG Ltd is hereby terminated effective April 17, 2024, in accordance with clause 10.2 of the Contract.

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“WPG Ltd is obligated to pay you three months salary in lieu of notice and hereby advise you that the due amounts have been credited to your account.”

From claims of possessing a PhD certificate to attending world-class institutions, Sanda has falsely presented herself as a person of premium educational achievements. Evidence has, however, invalidated some of these claims.

Her LinkedIn page, according to TheCable, stated that she obtained a bachelor’s degree in applied science (BASc) from Harvard Business School (HBS) as well as an MBA in strategic planning from the University of Edinburgh.

On top of that, she addresses herself as “Dr,” claiming to have obtained a PhD in financial management and entrepreneurship from the “University Management Science and Technology, Benin Republic”.

“I have also attended several courses, including the Strategic Financial Analysis for Business Evaluation Programme at the Harvard Business School, United States of America. I also bagged a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Financial Management and Entrepreneurship from the Icon University of Management Science and Technology, Benin Republic, in December 2020,” she told The PUNCH in May 2022.

The newspaper contacted the schools to ascertain the veracity of her claims and checked publicly available records to confirm her claims’ legitimacy.

The Benin university’s website domain address has been deleted, and it only maintains a presence on an Instagram page, targeting Nigeria as its major market to attract students.

Just like Sanda, the school claims that its status was recognised by education authorities in Benin and Nigeria. A check showed that there was no evidence to back up this claim, strongly suggesting it lacks any official capacity to operate.

Listed as principal management officers at the university were Maria D. Smith, Simon Duval, James Hogan and Claudia Williams, who were purportedly professors, none of whom have digital footprints. When FIJ checked, the only names that bore resemblance to these purported academics had no link to the said school.

Her claim of attending the HBS has also been flatly refuted. The school stated in a letter to TheCable that it issued no degree-related certificate to the woman but a certificate of attendance for a three-day executive course held in 2015.

“Tinuade Sanda participated in an Executive Education course. Please note that HBS Executive Education only offers non-degree programs. Certificates of attendance are awarded to participants upon completion of the program and do not grant degrees or alumni status for the program mentioned above,” the American institution said in the email.

A message to confirm her association with the University of Edinburgh, another world-class institution she was flaunting on her social media profile as her former school, got a negative response. David McGregor, a digital communication officer at the institution, denied Sanda attended the school.

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Heriot-Watt University, offering MBA courses purely online, simply told the newspaper that GDPR legislation did not permit it to release personal information in response to a request to verify Sanda’s academic ties with the school.

Lastly, while she claims to be a certified member of the United States’ Institute of Management Consultants as well as an associate of the Institute of Professional Financial Managers in the United Kingdom, no record of her was found in the institutes’ public directories.