The United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois has ruled in favour of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and ordered the Chicago State University to release President Bola Tinubu’s academic record by Monday.
The former vice president had obtained an order from US Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert, requiring CSU to make President Tinubu's academic records available to his legal team. The requested records included Tinubu's admission details, dates of attendance, degrees, awards, and honours from CSU.
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Tinubu’s lawyers kick as court orders release of Chicago academic record. Photo: Channels TV[/caption]
President Tinubu's lawyers objected to the magistrate's order and requested a review by a US district judge.
They argued that the academic records were not relevant to the ongoing legal proceedings in Nigeria and that Atiku's request was overly intrusive into Tinubu's private and confidential educational records.
US District Judge Nancy Maldonado, in a fresh judgment, overruled President Tinubu's objections. She noted that CSU did not object to the magistrate's decision to make the academic records public. The judge found that Atiku's interest in obtaining the records outweighed any privacy concerns raised by Tinubu.
The judge set an expedited schedule for the completion of discovery, directing CSU to produce the requested documents and a corporate designee for deposition. The deadline for the deposition was set for October 3, 2023, with consideration for the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, which was represented as October 5, 2023.
Judge Maldonado emphasized that her ruling did not express any view on the merits of Atiku's claims regarding President Tinubu or his graduation from CSU,
Punch reports.
The ruling focused solely on the question of whether Atiku was entitled to the production of documents and testimony from CSU.
The memorandum opinion and order read in part: “For the foregoing reasons, the court overrules President Tinubu’s objections to Magistrate Judge Gilbert’s recommended ruling, and therefore, adopts the ruling in full.
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Mr Atiku’s Application is, therefore, granted. In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, represented to the court as October 5, 2023, and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery.
“Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to Requests for Production Nos.
The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Given the October 5, 2023, filing deadline before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the court will not extend or modify these deadlines.
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However, the judge stressed that his verdict “is expressing no view on the merits of Mr. Abubakar’s underlying claims regarding President Tinubu or his graduation from CSU, or on the validity of the Nigerian election.
Nor is the court taking any position on what any of the documents or testimony from CSU may or may not ultimately show.”
“The court simply finds, on the narrow question before it, that Mr Atiku is entitled to the production of documents and testimony that he seeks from CSU,” he said.
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