US Judge Delays Release Of Tinubu’s Chicago University Records After Appeal

A Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Nancy Maldonado on Thursday granted an order delaying the release of Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic records by Chicago State University (CSU) to Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election had filed an application seeking to obtain Tinubu’s records at CSU to clear the air about reported inconsistencies with the Nigerian in the president’s academic records. Atiku seeks the documents to support his appeal of the presidential election tribunal verdict at the Supreme Court.

Atiku’s application was granted in a judgment issued on Tuesday, September 19 by Judge Jeffrey Gilbert, who ordered the production of the documents as well as the deposition of the school’s administrators.  The judge had ordered that the records must be released to Atiku on September 21 (yesterday).

However, Tinubu’s lawyers filed an emergency application seeking a review of the judgment and delay of execution until at least September 25. The president’s lawyers pleaded with the judge to delay the execution of the judgment because releasing the documents could cause him “severe and irreparable harm.”

At an urgent hearing on the matter which was held via telephone conference at 3:00 local time on Thursday,  Judge Maldonado agreed that the matter might be too severe for Tinubu to bear, and subsequently granted the application, adding that, “This needs to be handled with care.”

Maldonado further directed Tinubu’s lawyers to file a full brief on the matter on or before Monday, 25 September, adding that the court may ultimately adopt the magistrate’s recommendation and allow the discovery to go forward, or ask all parties to file fresh briefs in the matter.

Atiku Abubakar’s lawyers said they would file their reply to the brief by 11:00 p.m. on the same day.

Why Atiku Seeks Tinubu’s Record

Atiku, who is challenging the election of President Tinubu on February 25, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court after the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on September 6, ruled in favour of Tinubu.

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The PDP flagbearer seeks the records to enable him to prove his claim that Tinubu ought not to have contested the February 25 presidential election on account of alleged perjury and forgery of his Chicago State University certificate.

In his application for an order of Mandamus filed at the US court on August 2 to compel CSU to release Tinubu’s record, Atiku argued that Section 137 (1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution (as amended in 2010), states that no one would be legitimately elected president of Nigeria if the person “has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

Prior to Atiku’s application, Tinubu had on 17 June 2022, submitted an academic certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that was purportedly issued in 1979 and signed by Elnora Daniel. Tinubu’s submission has, however, raised the dust of ambiguity as Ms Daniel was said to have joined CSU in 1998 almost two decades after Tinubu’s graduation from the university, and also left the school in 2008.

Prompted by the apparent irregularities, Atiku filed an application asking the court to compel CSU to produce Tinubu’s records.

At a hearing on the matter held on September 12, CSU’s lawyer, Michael Hayes, said the university could not authenticate the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC if asked under oath. He however maintained that the Nigerian president graduated from the school in 1979.

Tinubu’s lawyers, led by Christopher Carmichael, asked the court not to grant Atiku’s application because it was a frivolous expedition aimed at soiling the Nigerian president’s image.

The lawyers further argued that the Nigerian Supreme Court would not accept fresh evidence that was not produced during the tribunal proceeding. However, Atiku’s team, led by Angela Liu, Countered the argument saying that the apex Court would accommodate the fresh facts under unique circumstances.