Tinubu Suffers Major Blow As US Court Orders Chicago University To Release His Academic Records To Atiku Abubakar

A federal court in Chicago on Tuesday ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to turn over all academic records of President Bola Tinubu to the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar within two days, and also swear an oath t their authencity.

Judge Jeffrey Gilbert, who gave the order said the former vice-president has been able to sufficiently satisfy the purpose for seeking the records. 

He also ordered a deposition of designated CSU officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary. 

“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 [ECF No. 1] is granted,” Mr Gilbert ruled. “Respondent CSU shall produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to requests for production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by the court) in applicant subpoena within two days of the entry of this memorandum opinion and order.”

“The deposition of respondent’s corporate designee shall proceed within two days of the production of documents. 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,” the judge held. 

This is a major blow to Mr. Tinubu who had hired some of the best lawyers to prevent the releasing of his academic records. And this barely hours after Atiku filed his appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking the setting aside of the controversial September 6 judgement of the presidential election petitions tribunal which affirmed Tinubu’s victory.

Certificate forgery is one of the cardinal grounds Atiku is asking the court to annul Tinubu’s election.

The PDP Presidential candidate had on August 2 asked the Chicago court to order CSU to produce documents relating to Tinubu, as well as leave to get the school’s administrators to authenticate any documents submitted under oath.