Following a United States Court order, Chicago State University (CSU) has released President Bola Tinubu’s academic records to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
Atiku obtained victory at the court in his fierce legal battle to probe into the academic qualification of Tinubu in the February 25 presidential poll.
Tinubu had supplied certificates from the Chicago State University, CSU, to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to secure eligibility to participate in the election.
Justice Nancy Maldonado in a judgment dismissed the objection raised by Tinubu against Atiku’s request and expressly ordered that the CSU must submit the academic records to Atiku.
And the school has obeyed the court order, releasing the documents on Monday night.
The samples of diplomas issued in 1997 released by CSU bear the same font and logo of what Tinubu submitted to INEC, but there is a discrepancy in the date.
CSU had, in its affidavit, taken responsibility for the discrepancy, blaming it on clerical error.
Responding to one of the requests it granted, the university said, “after diligent search,” it was able to locate and produce seven different certificates for the Bachelor of Science degree it issued in 1979.
Atiku had apparently requested the documents to compare and contrast them with the one presented by Mr Tinubu for the 2023 presidential election.
The university also handed to Atiku’s team, documents relating to Mr Tinubu certified by an official of CSU, Jamar C. Orr, a lawyer.
The university also produced, “after diligent search”, copies of three other diploma certificates issued to other students other than Mr Tinubu in 1979.
This was in response to Atiku’s request for “true and correct copies of any diplomas issued by CSU (other than to Mr Tinubu) that contain the same font, seal, signatures, and wording (other than the name of the recipient and the specific degree awarded).” Atiku sought these documents to compare and contrast them with the one Mr Tinubu submitted.
However, the university said it was unable to locate “a copy of the original diploma it prepared for Mr Tinubu in 1979” as requested by Atiku.
The university said it “does not in the ordinary course keep copies of student diplomas, and after diligent search cannot locate a copy of the original diploma it prepared for Mr Tinubu in 1979, hence has no documents responsive to this request.”
The release of the documents by CSU, however, confirms that Mr Tinubu did indeed graduate from CSU in 1979 although observers say the released documents raised other questions.
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