US Court Dismisses President Tinubu’s Appeal Against Releasing His Academic Records

The United States District Court in Northern Illinois has dismissed President Bola Tinubu's appeal against releasing his academic records to an opposition presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Judge Nancy Maldonado overruled President Tinubu's emergency application in case No. 23 CV 05099 over the weekend. The judge gave the Chicago State University (CSU) until 12:00 p.m. on Monday to release the required documents to the presidential candidate Abubakar.

"For the reasons stated in the Court's accompanying Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court overrules President Tinubu's objections (44] and adopts Judge Gilbert's recommended decision [40] in full," Judge Maldonado ruled, Premium Times reported. "The Court therefore grants Mr. Abubakar's application under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. [1]."

The court ordered, "Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to Requests for Production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by Judge Gilbert and adopted by the District Court in its opinion) in Mr. Abubakar's subpoena, by 12:00 p.m. (noon) CDT, on Monday, October 2, 2023."

She further ruled that the CSU must complete its filings regarding the release of documents by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

"In reaching this conclusion, the Court emphasizes that it is expressing no view on the merits of Mr. Abubakar's underlying claims regarding President Tinubu or his graduation from CSU, or on the validity of the Nigerian election," the court mentioned. "Nor is the Court taking any position on what any of the documents or testimony from CSU may or may not ultimately show."

The judge explained that the presidential candidate is "entitled to the production of documents and testimony that he seeks from CSU," adding that any further request for a stay before this Court will be denied.

On Sept. 19, a U.S. magistrate court ordered the Chicago University to release President Tinubu's academic records to Abubakar within 48 hours. However, the Nigerian President appealed on Sept. 21 to delay the record handover to Abubakar.

According to President Tinubu, he completed his diploma from Chicago State University in 1979.

However, following the presidential election held in February this year, Abubakar filed a case against President Tinubu, noting that he is not eligible to be the president of the country, alleging that he forged his academic records.

Abubakar fought against Tinubu from the Opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) earlier this year. Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes while Abubakar got 6,984,520 votes. Labor Party (LP) candidate Peter Gregory Obi was also running for president and secured the third position with 6,101,533 votes.

These polling results were shared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Feb. 25, which was rejected by the PDP and LP.