Chicago State University (CSU) has been ordered to make President Bola Tinubu’s credentials public by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
According to his qualifications, Tinubu earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, and management from CSU in 1979; nevertheless, there have been suspicions that his diploma may have been falsified.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president who is running for president in 2023 as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had asked the court to order the release of Tinubu’s papers on the grounds that doing so would support his legal challenge to the president’s election victory.
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On September 19, Jeffrey Gilbert, a US magistrate judge, granted the request and ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records within 24 hours.
Tinubu, however, filed an appeal against the order. Atiku also asked the US district court to overrule Tinubu’s objection.
The university also said it will release the president’s files if a US court grants the order.
In a memorandum opinion and order issued by Nancy Maldonado, the judge, the court overruled Tinubu’s objections to the application filed by Atiku seeking the release of the president’s record with the university.
“In the reasons stated in this Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court overrules President Tinubu’s objections and adopts Judge Gilbert’s recommended decision in full,” the court said.
“The Court therefore grants Mr. Abubakar’s application under 28 U.S.C 1782. CSU is directed to respond to Mr. Abubakar’s subpoena in the time and manner provided for below. In reaching this conclusion, the Court emphasizes that it is expressing no view on the merits of Mr. Abubakar’s claims regarding President Tinubu’s graduation from CSU, or on the validity of the Nigerian election.
“Nor is the Court taking any position on what any of the documents or testimony from CSU may or may not ultimately show. These are all matters for the Nigerian courts to resolve under the Nigerian law, and it is not appropriate for this U.S. Court to opine on such issues or attempt to predict how foreign courts might ultimately rule if and when they are presented with any evidence from CSU.”
