A United States (U.S.) court has reportedly ordered Chicago State University (CSU) to release the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, within two days and also certify its authenticity under oath.
This is seen as a significant victory for Atiku in his ongoing push to demonstrate Bola Tinubu’s ineligibility to be Nigeria’s president.
The federal court in Chicago on Tuesday night directed CSU to turn over all records relating to Tinubu to Atiku, saying the former vice-president has sufficiently satisfied the purpose for seeking the records.
According to the ruling seen by Peoples Gazette, Judge Jeffrey Gilbert also ordered a deposition of designated CSU officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.
Gilbert ruled: “For all of the reasons discussed above, Atiku Abubakar’s application pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for an order directing discovery from Chicago State University for use in a foreign proceeding [ECF No. 1] is granted.
“Respondent CSU shall produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to requests for production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by the court) in applicant subpoena within two days of the entry of this memorandum opinion and order.
“The deposition of respondent’s corporate designee shall proceed within two days of the production of documents. The parties can modify the dates set by the court by mutual agreement. Given the tight time frame under which the parties are operating, the deposition can, if necessary, occur on a non-weekday.”
Recall that on August 2nd, Atiku had filed an application for the court to order CSU to produce documents relating to Tinubu, as well as leave to get the school’s administrators to authenticate any documents submitted under oath.
He said the documents would be part of his ongoing challenge against Tinubu’s election earlier this year. The former Vice President noted that Tinubu should not have been allowed to run for president because he had submitted a forged document under oath violating the Nigerian Constitution.
Section 137 (1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution (amended in 2010) specifically stated that no one would be legitimately elected president of Nigeria if the person “has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
