Atiku Mum As Chicago State University Release Tinubu’s Academic Records

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his camp have kept mum over the release of the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Naija News reported that the Chicago State University (CSU) released the document in compliance with the order of the District Court of Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

The court had, on Saturday, ordered the CSU to release the academic records of Tinubu to Atiku in his quest to challenge the results of the last presidential election.

The development came after a U.S. Federal Judge, Nancy Maldonado, in a memorandum of opinion and order, adopted all the rulings of Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the U.S. District Court.

Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had objected to the Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert ruling ordering the immediate release of the academic records by the CSU.

The president had said releasing the documents with deposition would cause him severe harm because they were private to him and would not be admissible in the ongoing petition against him in Nigeria.

But Atiku had filed another appeal, leading to Judge Maldonado ordering that the documents be released within 48 hours.

Details of the released documents sought by Atiku showed that CSU complied with his request for a true, correct copy of the diploma for the Bachelor of Science degree issued in 1979 and Bates labelled as CSU 0001 through 0007 with an obscured student’s name, which the university said was for privacy reasons.

The university, however, said it could not locate a true and correct copy relating to the diploma it issued in 1979 to Tinubu.

As of the time of filing this report, the former Vice President has not issued any statement regarding the release of the academic records of President Tinubu.

Also, the spokesperson to Atiku, Phrank Shaibu, has not issued any statement on the development and failed to respond when contacted on the telephone for a reaction.

One of the media aides of the PDP flagbearer, Daniel Bwala, has also not reacted to the development following a check on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.