The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has submitted a fresh motion to the United States Court, urging it to overrule President Bola Tinubu’s request to prevent Chicago State University (CSU) from disclosing Tinubu’s academic records.
Earlier, Atiku had obtained a court order from a US magistrate mandating CSU to provide his legal team with Tinubu’s academic records. Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert had directed Tinubu’s alma mater to furnish Atiku’s legal team with all pertinent and non-privileged documents within two days.
Atiku is currently challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election, a matter currently before the Nigerian Supreme Court.
The documents Atiku is seeking through his counsel, Angela Liu, include Tinubu’s admission and acceptance records at Chicago State University, his dates of attendance, as well as details about degrees, awards, and honors he received from CSU.
As the deadline set by the magistrate approached, Tinubu’s legal team approached the US high court, arguing that the magistrate’s decision needed to be reviewed by a district judge. The request for review and a delay of the magistrate’s order until Monday was granted by the US district judge.
Tinubu’s application, filed by his New York-based lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi, presented two primary reasons. Firstly, it claimed that Tinubu’s academic records were not useful in Nigerian courts, as asserted by Atiku, due to a lack of receptivity to such evidence in Nigerian election proceedings and courts. Secondly, it argued that Atiku’s request was overly intrusive, granting him access to Tinubu’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.
In response, Atiku, in a fresh filing made on Wednesday in Chicago, Illinois, implored the court to entirely dismiss Tinubu’s request. Angela Liu, Atiku’s lawyer, requested that if the court overruled the objections, it should issue an order compelling the production of documents no later than October 2, 2023, with the deposition scheduled for no later than October 3. This timeline would allow for the finalization of transcripts and the delivery of the obtained discovery to Nigeria (which is six hours ahead) by October 4. This would enable the evidence to be filed with the Supreme Court by October 5, the date when Atiku’s Nigerian counsel intends to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court.
Atiku’s legal team clarified that, contrary to Tinubu’s claims, they are not seeking to conduct a fishing expedition into Tinubu’s private, confidential, and protected educational records. The former Vice President asserted that his objective is to verify the authenticity and origin of 12 pages of documents, including two different diplomas, which claim to have been issued by CSU. Atiku argued that discrepancies exist between the information in the CSU documents and the information in the affidavit Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Atiku’s legal team emphasized that the Nigerian Electoral Act specifically allows for the submission of new evidence to the Supreme Court in exceptional circumstances, demonstrating its willingness to consider the evidence sought.
