U.S. Court Orders Chicago State University To Release Tinubu’s Records Within 48hrs

President Bola Tinubu has lost an emergency appeal to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to prevent Chicago State University from releasing his academic records to Atiku Abubakar.

VerseNews reports that Judge Nancy L. Maldonado overruled President Tinubu’s objections and adopted the recommended ruling by Magistrate Judge Gilbert, allowing the release of the records.

The case stemmed from Atiku Abubakar’s civil case, which aimed to establish that Tinubu was ineligible to be Nigeria’s president due to a forged certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC had declared Tinubu as the winner of the February 2023 presidential election, with Atiku coming second.

Justice Maldonado granted Abubakar’s application and directed Chicago State University to produce relevant documents by October 2, 2023, and complete the deposition by October 3, 2023.

This ruling comes ahead of a Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, and Justice Maldonado emphasized that these deadlines would not be extended or modified.

Atiku Abubakar initiated the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, seeking documents and testimony related to Tinubu’s diploma and graduation from Chicago State University to support his challenge to the election results.