The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to release the academic records of President Bola Tinubu to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
The court ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s credentials to Atiku, a former Vice President, by Monday, October 2, 2023.
The PDP presidential candidate had approached the court seeking to compel the university to release Tinubu’s records on the grounds that the credentials would strengthen his suit challenging the president’s electoral victory.
Though Tinubu’s credentials show that he graduated from CSU in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting and management, Atiku stated that the president’s academic records from primary school to university were questionable.
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However, the presiding judge, Nancy Maldonado, in a copy of the judgement obtained on Sunday, October 1, declared that CSU raised no objection to Judge Jeffery Gilbert’s decision that the academic records be made public.
Maldonado overruled Tinubu’s objections to the application filed by Atiku seeking the release of his credentials.
The judge said: “Atiku’s application is therefore granted. In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline represented to the Court as October 5, 2023, and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the Court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery. Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents.
“The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Given the October 5, 2023, filing deadline before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Court will not extend or modify these deadlines.”
It would be recalled that the former Vice President approached the Supreme Court to nullify the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court which upheld the victory of Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku, in the Notice of Appeal predicated on 35 grounds, insisted that the tribunal in the judgement delivered by Justice Haruna Tsammani on September 6 committed a grave error and miscarriage of justice in its findings and conclusion in the petition challenging the declaration of Tinubu as president by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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