The United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois has ruled in favor of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, ordering Chicago State University to release President Bola Tinubu’s academic records by today (Monday).
Tinubu’s legal team argued that these documents wouldn’t be relevant to Atiku’s appeal in the Nigerian Supreme Court.
Atiku had previously obtained an order from a US magistrate for CSU to provide Tinubu’s academic records, including admission records, attendance dates, degrees, awards, and honors.
As the deadline approached, Tinubu’s lawyers requested a review of the magistrate’s decision by a district judge, which was granted.
They argued that the records were not useful in Nigerian courts and that Atiku’s request was intrusive.
In response, Atiku urged the court to reject Tinubu’s request entirely, stating that CSU had not objected to making the academic records public.
The court ruled in favor of Atiku, finding that his interest outweighed any intrusion on Tinubu’s privacy.
The judge adopted the magistrate’s ruling, setting an expedited schedule for discovery.
This development may impact Atiku’s appeal before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, but the judge clarified that his verdict did not express any view on the merits of the underlying claims or the validity of the Nigerian election.
A member of the PDP National Executive Council, Timothy Osadolor, viewed Tinubu’s appeal as unnecessary, while one of President Tinubu’s attorneys downplayed the importance of the academic documents, citing the Electoral Act’s restrictions on introducing new evidence on appeal.
In summary, the US District Court ruled in favor of Atiku’s request for Tinubu’s academic records, which may have implications for Atiku’s Supreme Court appeal in Nigeria, though it remains to be seen how significant these records will be in the case.
