By Latiifah Amusan
Chicago State University (CSU) has confirmed that Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu graduated from the institution in 1979.
This confirmation comes as a response to an application filed by Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Nigeria’s February 25 election.
The United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ordered the university on August 9 to respond to Atiku Abubakar’s application.
The case, with reference number 1:23-cv-05099, is under the jurisdiction of Judge Maldonado Gilbert.
In its response, the university indicated that it would defer to Tinubu concerning privacy and relevancy objections he raised in the application.
The university acknowledged that Tinubu graduated from the institution in 1979 and deferred to his stance on the privacy concerns brought up by Abubakar.
The university also expressed its deference to Tinubu’s judgment on whether the information being sought is relevant to the Nigerian proceeding.
It questioned the relevance of Tinubu’s student records and diploma issuance details to a 2023 election challenge in Nigeria.
However, the university stated that it lacks familiarity with the issues in the Nigerian proceeding and the legal principles involved.
Consequently, it defers to Tinubu, who is directly involved in the foreign proceeding, to raise objections to the application’s procedural and relevancy aspects.
During a conference with Atiku’s counsel, it was confirmed that the evidentiary phase of the Nigerian proceeding had concluded.
Atiku’s lawyer indicated that the sought information might be used in future appellate proceedings.
The university urged the court to consider both the status of the Nigerian proceeding and the likelihood of the discovery information being used.
