US Court Orders Chicago State University To Release Tinubu’s Academic Records To Atiku

The United States district court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered Chicago State University, CSU, to release all of President Bola Tinubu’s academic records being sought by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Atiku who filed his appeal against Tinubu on Tuesday at the Supreme Court seeking nullification of Tinubu’s election which was affirmed by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal had applied for Tinubu’s records to aid his case in Court.

He had argued before the US Court that releasing Tinubu’s academic records would put the record straight regarding the year, sex, lower school record and real information pertaining to who Tinubu was before he went to the US and began to study in the university and if indeed he was a student in CSU.

This followed an ongoing controversy concerning Tinubu’s real identity following discrepancies in his academic records he had filed several times before the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

In granting the request in a memorandum signed by Jeffrey Gilbert, U.S. Magistrate Judge, the court held that “This matter is before the Court on 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 (“Application”) [ECF No. 1]. For the reasons discussed below, the application is granted”.

The court further said, “The first intel factor weighs in favour of granting the application.

“The first discretionary factor looks to whether the person from whom discovery is sought is a participant in the foreign proceedings,” court memorandum said.

Although Tinubu through his counsel argued that it was unnecessary while the CSU had stated that it would honour any court decision, the court held that, “Intel, 542 U.S. at 264. The parties agree that CSU is not a party in the Nigerian proceedings and is beyond the jurisdictional reach of the Nigerian courts.

“Accordingly, the court finds that factor one weighs in favour of granting the application.

“The parties can modify the dates set by the court by mutual agreement.

“Given the tight time frame under which the parties are operating, the deposition can, if necessary, occur on a non-weekday.

“It is so ordered.”