The request made by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, for the release of President Bola Tinubu’s academic records by Chicago State University, has been granted by a United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
The ruling which was delivered by US Magistrate, Judge Jeffrey Gilbert on Tuesday, also ordered the Chicago state varsity to provide “all relevant and non-privileged documents” to Atiku Abubakar within two days.
The ruling acknowledged Tinubu’s lawyers’ argument against lifting their client’s privacy privilege and clarified that only “non-privileged documents” should be produced.
“This matter is before the Court on Atiku Abubakar’s Application Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for an Order Directing Discovery from Chicago State University for Use in a Foreign Proceeding (“Application”) [ECF No. 1]. For the reasons discussed below, the Application is granted,” Gilbert said.
Atiku had initiated the legal action seeking an order to compel the university to release Tinubu’s academic records.
This is coming barely two weeks after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal affirmed Tinubu’s victory, Atiku and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, have filed 86 grounds of appeal at the Supreme Court to nullify the judgment.
The two candidates in separate appeals filed on Tuesday, asked the apex court to set aside the PEPT ruling and nullify Tinubu’s election, describing the verdict as erroneous.
Atiku’s appeal was hinged on 35 grounds in which he faulted the tribunal’s ruling on electronic transmission of results, Federal Capital Territory votes, and other key planks.
Obi, on the other hand, faulted the September 6 judgment on 51 grounds.
