Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the U.S District Court, Northern District of Illinois, has ordered the Chicago State University to release President Bola Tinubu’s academic records within two days.
This decision follows Atiku Abubakar’s request, as the judge found that Atiku Abubakar has provided sufficient reasons for seeking these records.
In addition, Judge Gilbert has also mandated a deposition of designated CSU officials, to occur within two days after the release of the records, even if it needs to happen during the weekend.
The court’s ruling stated, “For all of the reasons discussed above, Atiku Abubakar’s application pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for an order directing discovery from Chicago State University for use in a foreign proceeding is granted.”
This order comes shortly after Atiku Abubakar filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, following the presidential election petitions tribunal’s decision on September 6 that upheld Bola Tinubu’s victory.
Atiku Abubakar had previously applied for CSU to produce documents related to Tinubu’s education, as well as permission to have CSU’s administrators authenticate these documents. These documents are intended for use in Atiku Abubakar’s ongoing challenge against Tinubu’s election.
Atiku Abubakar alleges that Tinubu should not have been allowed to run for president because he submitted a forged certificate under oath, which is a violation of the Nigerian Constitution’s Section 137 (1)(j).
This section states that no one can be legitimately elected president if they have presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The case revolves around a certificate submitted by Tinubu to INEC in June 2022, purportedly issued in 1979 and signed by Elnora Daniel.
However, Ms. Daniel only joined CSU in 1998, 19 years after Tinubu was said to have graduated. She left the school in 2008, 14 years before CSU issued a fresh certificate in Tinubu’s name in June 2022 under subpoena from a Nigerian lawyer.
This prompted Atiku Abubakar to file the suit, requesting CSU to produce Tinubu’s records and make its top officials available for deposition to verify the records.