Release Tinubu’s Academic Records Within 48 Hours, US Court Orders CSU

The United States District Court in Northern Illinois has directed Chicago State University (CSU) to release President Bola Tinubu’s academic records to Nigerian opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar within 48 hours, starting from Saturday.

In a ruling delivered on Saturday, Judge Nancy Maldonado dismissed Mr. Tinubu’s objection and upheld a previous decision by magistrate judge Jeffery Gilbert from September 20th. The court affirmed Atiku’s right to access the records.

Judge Maldonado stated, “The Court therefore grants Mr. Abubakar’s application under 28 U.S.C. § 1782.” She ordered CSU to complete all necessary filings for the release by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Atiku had requested these documents for use in Nigerian courts to support his claim that Mr. Tinubu forged a diploma certificate from CSU in 1979, which he submitted to Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, for the 2023 presidential election.

Although Atiku’s case against Mr. Tinubu was initially dismissed by the Presidential Election Petition Court in early September, he plans to reintroduce the issue with the CSU documents in his appeal at the Nigerian Supreme Court.

Mr. Tinubu strongly opposed the release of these documents, citing that Nigerian courts had already rejected them and that Atiku’s request was intrusive into his private educational records.

Judge Maldonado clarified that her ruling was not a confirmation of Atiku’s forgery allegations or an endorsement of his stance on the Nigerian presidential election. It solely affirmed Atiku’s right to access CSU documents.

Furthermore, she cautioned Mr. Tinubu not to apply for a stay of the order, given the tight deadline for filing the CSU documents with the Nigerian Supreme Court. Any request for a stay would need to be addressed to the US Court of Appeals.

As of Sunday morning, it was uncertain whether Mr. Tinubu had filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeals.

The court ordered CSU to release four sets of documents related to Mr. Tinubu, including an exemplar of his 1979 diploma, the diploma itself, a CSU diploma exemplar matching Exhibit C to the First Liu Declaration, and relevant CSU documents certified and produced by Jamar Orr, an associate general counsel at CSU, along with related communications.