In a significant development, Caleb Westberg, a Registrar at Chicago State University, provided sworn testimony on Tuesday, confirming that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution in 1979. This testimony came during a deposition held at the office of Angela Liu, the legal counsel to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in Chicago, United States.
Westberg, under oath, disclosed that President Tinubu’s admission records clearly indicated he was a male and attended the university from 1977 to 1979. He pointed out that both Tinubu’s self-identification and the university’s admission letter referred to him as “Mr. Tinubu.”
The deposition featured five lawyers from Liu’s firm participating in the legal proceedings via Zoom, while Chicago State University was represented by Michael Hayes. President Tinubu was represented by his counsel, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole Afolabi.
In his testimony, Westberg revealed that Chicago State University was inundated with daily inquiries, ranging from five to 30, from individuals seeking to confirm President Tinubu’s attendance at the university. However, he denied any notification to the former Lagos State governor regarding these requests.
Westberg firmly stated, “We believe Bola Tinubu who attended CSU is the same person who is the president of Nigeria today.” He emphasized that the university had diplomas that students didn’t collect, but he had the diploma that was made available to someone else in their possession, as President Tinubu did not retrieve it. However, the diploma submitted to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) was not in their possession as President Tinubu had already obtained it.
When pressed further about President Tinubu’s gender during enrollment, Westberg maintained that “Tinubu applied to the university as a male, and a letter of admission was issued to a male.”
This sworn deposition from the Chicago State University Registrar adds an interesting dimension to the ongoing controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s educational background and could have implications for the legal proceedings related to this matter.