Chicago State University (CSU) says it will release the
academic records of President Bola Tinubu if a United States court grants the
order.
In a document seen by NigerianEye, the university asked the
court to direct “only limited and targeted discovery” of the information sought
by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
in the last election.
BACKGROUND
Recently, Abubakar approached a US court for the northern
district of Illinois in Chicago, for an order compelling CSU to release the
academic records of Tinubu.
Tinubu’s credentials show that he graduated from CSU in 1979
with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting and management.
However, there have been allegations bordering on
discrepancies with Tinubu’s certificate.
In the suit filed before the US district court, Abubakar
prayed that the court should subpoena Tinubu’s files domiciled with CSU.
Abubakar said the files will settle the controversy
surrounding Tinubu’s academic background and aid the election petition
tribunal.
The president, through his counsel, had filed a counter
application opposing the request for the release of his academic records.
The US court had also ruled that it has the jurisdiction to
entertain the suit filed by the former vice-president.
CSU RESPONDS TO ATIKU
The university, in its response to Atiku’s application, said
it does not “understand” why Tinubu’s academic records “could possibly have any
bearing on a 2023 election challenge in a foreign country”.
CSU argued that some requests in the application are “clearly
inappropriate”, adding that the applicant is also seeking the employment
details of one of his former employees.
“Finally, in the event the Court determines to allow any
discovery to proceed here, the University urges the Court to direct only limited,
targeted discovery on the University,” CSU said in a response filed by Michael
Hayes, its counsel.
“As leave to issue any discovery has not yet been granted,
and the Court’s views on what if any discovery is appropriate here under 28
U.S.C. §1782 are not yet known, it is premature for the University to raise
objections to the scope of the documents and information sought in Abubakar’s
two subpoenas.
“But without limiting
further objections, which the University expressly reserves, the University
notes that the scope and relevancy of certain of Abubakar’s requests are
clearly inappropriate.
“For example, Abubakar’s document subpoena Request No. 5
seeks information on diplomas issued by the University for a 44-year period
(1979 to the present), and Abubakar’s deposition subpoena Topic No. 7 seeks
information on the employment status and reasons for departure of a former
employee in the University’s General Counsel’s Office.
“Following this
Court’s ruling on the Application, should any discovery be permitted, the
University will meet and confer promptly and in good faith with Abubakar’s
counsel to attempt to address all the University’s concerns.”
ELECTION TRIBUNAL
On June 23, the presidential election petition tribunal
admitted certified copies of Tinubu’s academic and professional records
tendered by Abubakar and the PDP.
The documents, which include a BSc certificate from Chicago
State University, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate and
Mobil Nigeria Oil Plc certificate of service, were tendered through a witness.
On July 4, a counsel to Tinubu submitted 12 documents
containing the president’s educational records from CSU.
The petitioners — Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party
(LP) — told the court that Tinubu allegedly distorted his age and has
conflicting academic and personal records.
The tribunal has completed proceedings on the case against
Tinubu and will announce a date for judgment.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com