President Bola Tinubu has requested that a United States District Judge, Nancy Maldonado, order Chicago State University (CSU) to protect his confidential information, such as admission records and transcripts, and only release his certificate to the legal team of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
This development comes after Atiku secured an order from a US magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, for CSU to provide Tinubu’s academic records to his legal team. The documents sought include Tinubu’s admission and acceptance records, dates of attendance, degrees, awards, and honors earned at the university.
As the deadline set by Gilbert approached, Tinubu’s lawyers requested a review by a district judge, which was granted by Judge Maldonado.
However, on Monday, Tinubu’s legal team urged Maldonado to release only the certificate and prevent the disclosure of Tinubu’s other privileged records. They argued that the information sought could not be used and was not for use in foreign proceedings.
The development follows testimony by Olajide Adeniji, who claimed to be Tinubu’s classmate and contested against him as the President of the Accounting Society Club at CSU. Adeniji swore an oath that he was familiar with the same Tinubu who is now the President of Nigeria.
Atiku’s camp has vowed to resist Tinubu’s move, stating that it is evident the President is hiding something. Phrank Shaibu, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Atiku, mentioned that they have 48 hours to respond to Tinubu’s motion in the US court.
Pedro Obaseki, Director of Research and Strategy of the Atiku/Okowa 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, alleged that Tinubu’s reluctance to release his records publicly is because the owner of the disputed certificate is a woman. He stated that Atiku’s camp already knows this fact but seeks official confirmation from CSU.
Obaseki emphasized that Nigerians would be more demoralized if the owner of the certificate Tinubu is withholding turns out to be a woman. He expressed confidence that the outcome would reveal crucial information.