Tinubu says CSU records release will cause him ‘harm’ with allegation his admission transcript belongs to a ‘female’
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bola Tinubu has appealed a United States court ruling authorising release of his Chicago State University (CSU) records, saying the release will cause him “severe and irreparable harm” and – even if he does not say it – cause the loss of his job as President if the allegation of certificate forgery against him is proven at the Supreme Court.
Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 19 ordered CSU to release the records to Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), based on his lawsuit.
In seeking Tinubu’s CSU records, Atiku’s allegations against him revolve around identity theft, age falsification, certificate forgery, and perjury.
The core of Atiku’s lawsuit is that Tinubu, a male, allegedly used a transcript from Southwest College Chicago belonging to “Bola A. Tinubu”, a “female”, to gain admission into CSU in 1977.
CSU confirms Tinubu’s admission transcript belongs to a ‘female’
CSU confirmed in the lower District Court the transcript with which male Tinubu got admission into the school in 1977 belongs to a “female” whose name appears in the document as “Bola A. Tinubu”.
The diploma transcript was issued by Southwest College Chicago, CSU lawyer Michael Hayes told the court, citing and confirming CSU records earlier released through attorney subpoena to Nigerian civil rights lawyer Mike Enahoro-Ebah.
Hayes was making his argument in the application filed by Atiku for a subpoena to obtain directly from CSU the academic records of Tinubu to support allegation he committed identity theft, age falsification, certificate forgery, and perjury, all of which disqualify him from the office of President.
Section 137 (1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution (amended in 2010) says, “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of president if … he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC].”
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Related articles:
UPDATED: US court orders CSU to release Tinubu’s records to Atiku within two days
Admission transcript of ‘Bola A. Tinubu’ belongs to a ‘female’, CSU confirms
Tinubu has 2 CSU certificates and “either ‘A’ or ‘B’ is fake (if not both)”, lawyer tells US court
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Another battle looms at Supreme Court
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in its judgment in Abuja on September 6 rejected Tinubu’s CSU particulars that Atiku presented through Enahoro-Ebah, his witness, partly on the grounds the witness was not competent.
Atiku has appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the US lower court, Hayes confirmed before Gilbert that CSU indeed turned in the records to Enahoro-Ebah in 2022, but insisted Tinubu, the Nigerian President, was the one who attended and graduated from the school in 1979.
Gilbert ruled on September 19 that CSU should release to Atiku within two days the biodata and academic records of Tinubu, saying Atiku had sufficiently satisfied the purpose for seeking the records.
The Magistrate also ordered a deposition of a designated CSU official within two days after the records have been released, ruling the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.
However, Tinubu filed an emergency request at a senior District Court on September 21 requesting delay or stoppage of the release of his CSU documents.
Judge Nancy Maldonado subsequently ordered a stay of execution of the lower court ruling based on Tinubu’s plea that releasing the records to Atiku would cause him “severe and irreparable harm,” per reporting by ThisDay.
Tinubu asked the senior court to delay the enforcement of the lower order until Monday 25 September 2023, arguing Atiku would not be prejudiced by the delay as he has up till September 27 to submit materials in support of his appeal at the Nigerian Supreme Court.
Maldonado agreed and granted the application explaining “this needs to be handled with care.”
She directed Tinubu’s lawyers to file a full brief on the matter before or on September 25, but said the court may ultimately adopt the magistrate’s recommendation and allow the discovery to proceed, or ask all parties to file fresh briefs.
Atiku’s lawyers said they would file their reply to the brief by 11pm the same day.
The PEPC in Abuja rejected Tinubu’s CSU records presented by Atiku’s witness on the legal technicality the witness was not competent.
If Atiku himself directly obtains Tinubu’s records from CSU, he may be able to present them at the Supreme Court under compelling extenuating circumstances or at the discretion of the court.
Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian-American international human rights lawyer with US Nigeria Law Group in Washington, who flew to Abuja to witness the PEPC proceedings in person, argued it is possible for Atiku to use the evidence at the Nigerian Supreme Court. See https://www.thenicheng.com/tinubu-all-eyes-now-on-the-u-s-judiciary/
