KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today said he will be getting a certificate of his degree from UK’s University of Nottingham to replace the original document which appears to have been misplaced.
The former prime minister said he would publicly post the photo of his certificate on his Facebook account once he receives it.
“Last week, I tried to search for the certificate for my degree at my home but was unsuccessful.
“Maybe it was left behind when I left Seri Perdana after losing GE14,” he wrote on his Facebook account today, referring to his leaving of the prime minister’s official residence after his Barisan Nasional coalition lost federal power in the 14th general election.
“Therefore, I have written to my University to obtain a replacement certificate.
“They replied that it will be mailed to me within about a week’s time.
“When I receive it, I will upload the photo of the certificate to this Facebook (account),” he added.
In the Facebook post which was written in the Malay language, Najib stated that he had undertaken his primary and secondary school studies at the St John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur, before furthering his studies at the Malvern College in UK.
“Then, I studied at University of Nottingham and succeeded in obtaining a BA Hons Industrial Economics from there,” he said, adding that he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2004 by the same university.
Earlier today, Malay Mail had reported the University of Nottingham as confirming that Najib had graduated from the UK university.
The university was responding to Malay Mail’s request to verify Najib’s academic qualifications, including if he obtained an undergraduate degree from the institution.
“The University of Nottingham’s records confirm that Mohammed N. Razak graduated with a BA Hons in Industrial Economics in 1974,” the university’s spokesman said in a brief email reply to Malay Mail last night.
Yesterday, DAP Perak’s Keranji state assemblyman Chong Zhemin cast doubt on Najib’s degree, highlighting a video circulating online that alleged the latter did not complete his studies at the University of Nottingham in the 1970s.
Chong had also told Najib to disprove the allegation by publishing the transcripts of his examinations and a copy of his degree.
In 2017, whistleblower site Sarawak Report had also questioned the authenticity of Najib’s Nottingham degree.
When asked to clarify his academic qualifications, Najib yesterday told reporters at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya: “Of course my degree is legitimate.”
Najib is not the only politician to have his academic credentials questioned publicly in recent times.
The academic qualifications of several Pakatan Harapan politicians and members of the administration have been called into question recently, including some who were alleged to have either obtained their purported degrees from suspected degree mills or to not actually have graduated from the universities stated.
