Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has asked the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to reject President Bola Tinubu’s objections on an order for Chicago State University (CSU) to release all his academic records not later than October 2.

In an application filed at the court on September 27, Atiku rejected Tinubu’s objection and description of his suit as a ‘fishing expedition’ which has no bearing on the presidential election petition case at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Atiku said contrary to Tinubu’s claims, the demand for the release of the academic records is not a fishing exercise but to test the authenticity of 12 pages of document including two different diplomas that was allegedly issued by CSU and the basis of CSU’s assertion that Tinubu graduated in 1979, given the discrepancies and his affidavit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He also said the discovery obtained from the case would be sent to Nigeria by October 4 so that such evidence may, in turn, be filed with the Supreme Court by October 5, which is when his counsel intends to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court.

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court should overrule the objections in their entirety. If the Court overrules the objections, the applicant respectfully requests that it enter an order requiring production of documents no later than October 2, 2023, and the deposition scheduled no later than October 3, to allow time for transcripts to be finalised, and the discovery obtained to be sent to Nigeria (which is six (6) hours ahead) by October 4 so that such evidence may, in turn, be filed with the Supreme Court by October 5, which is when applicant’s Nigerian counsel intend to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court,” he said.

On August 2, 2023, Atiku filed a suit at the US court, demanding that CSU release all of Tinubu’s academic records over irregularities in the certificate he submitted to INEC. This move was prompted by Atiku’s belief that these documents would help clarify what he said are inconsistencies in Tinubu’s background.

The former vice president argued that among other things, a “second Chicago State University diploma dated June 27, 1979, that bears the name “Bola Ahmed Tinubu “has since emerged but also presents with a different font, punctuation, seal, and signatures, than that of the June 22, 1979 diploma, among other alleged discrepancies.”

Atiku told the US that he wanted to authenticate these documents whether a “Chicago State University diploma in the name of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated June 22, 1979, that was submitted to the INEC before the presidential election in February 2023 is genuine or was forged.”

But last week, Tinubu asked the court to permit CSU to release only his certificate to Atiku but block the school from revealing any other information about the person who owns the certificate, especially their gender and any records of where they went to school, among other things after Jeffrey Gilbert, a US magistrate judge, ordered the university to produce “all relevant and non-privileged documents” to Atiku within two days.

Sun