ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- President Bola Tinubu has reluctantly agreed to allow a U.S. federal judge to provide his university certificate to his political rival, Atiku Abubakar.
However, he has implored Judge Nancy Maldonado to safeguard the confidentiality of certain details, particularly regarding gender and admission records pertaining to the certificate holder.
President Tinubu’s request was made during the ongoing legal proceedings at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
This case was initiated by Abubakar, who has been pursuing a legal route to challenge Tinubu’s eligibility as the Nigerian president despite his victory in the February 2023 election.
Tinubu secured the election with 36 per cent of the vote after Abubakar and his 2019 running mate, Peter Obi, parted ways, splitting their potential votes and ultimately allowing Tinubu to secure a victory by the slimmest margin in Nigerian presidential election history.
President Tinubu’s willingness to release his certificate came after narrowly avoiding full disclosure on 21 September by citing potential harm to his life, which led to a stay of a magistrate judge’s order issued on 19 September.
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In their court submission seeking a review of Judge Jeffrey Gilbert’s order, Tinubu’s lawyers argued, “There is harm in allowing discovery on issues and documents outside the diploma.”
The identity of the individual admitted to Chicago State University in the 1970s has been a contentious issue, especially after college transcripts surfaced, indicating that the school admitted a female, Bola Tinubu, from Southwest College Chicago in 1977.
While Tinubu’s legal team, led by Victor Henderson and Christopher Carmichael, maintained that the documents sought by Abubakar would not be admissible at the Supreme Court, they appeared to prepare for the possibility of an unfavourable ruling by suggesting that the judge order the school to strictly certify the certificate submitted by the president for his election candidacy.
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Mr. Gilbert’s prior ruling mandated CSU administrators to confirm under oath the authenticity of Tinubu’s submitted certificate for the Nigerian election.
Additionally, officials were instructed to provide a redacted certificate issued to a CSU graduate in 1979 and to produce communications related to a letter the school issued to Tinubu in 2022.
Tinubu expressed concerns that proceeding with the deposition of CSU officials could inflict severe and irreparable harm to his life, arguing that Abubakar’s efforts were merely aimed at fueling online conspiracy theories.
In today’s filing, a man named Olajide Adeniji submitted an affidavit asserting that he attended school with President Tinubu from 1977 to 1979.