President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested a federal judge in the United States to disregard records indicating that a female was admitted to Chicago State University in the 1970s.
Tinubu claimed that his Nigerian political rival Atiku Abubakar was attempting to sandbag him in the ongoing litigation over academic documents in a September 11 filing before Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Christopher Carmichael, one of Tinubu’s lawyers in the case, entered the argument on the Nigerian president’s behalf.
“It is established beyond peradventure that it is improper to sandbag one’s opponent by raising new matter in reply,” Tinubu said.
Prior to today’s hearing, Justice Gilbert had advised that all parties appear before the court on Tuesday afternoon, amid strong indications that a decision in the matter was imminent.
According to Tinubu’s attorneys, the issues in the Southwest College record that arose around Tinubu’s identity were the result of a conspiracy theory, not the fault of the Nigerian politician.
“The quoted and referenced portion of the Nigerian court filing parrots conspiracy theories about President Tinubu, including that the degree from Chicago State University really belongs to a female named Bola Tinubu,” Tinubu’s lawyers said. “That conspiracy theory is not an asserted basis for discovery.”
However, according to Peoples Gazette, Atiku’s lawyers, led by Angela Liu, promptly filed a response to inform the judge that the argument Tinubu’s lawyers were making should be ignored and the hearing should go as planned.
“Although Abubakar disputes the assertions made by Tinubu in his Motion for Leave and accompanying sur-response, Abubakar consents to Tinubu’s submission of the sur-response and its accompanying exhibit, Dkt. 27-1, on the assumption that the Court will allow his counsel to respond to the arguments and assertions made therein at the hearing before the Court scheduled for tomorrow (September 12, 2023),” the lawyers said.
In the midst of the controversy surrounding Tinubu’s admittance and graduation, Atiku has asked a US judge to issue enough subpoenas to force data and depositions from CSU.
The school has continued to publish contradicting records, which frequently raise more issues than previously thought.
For example, at least two certifications produced by Tinubu’s school are in the public domain. One was delivered to Tinubu personally, and the other to a Nigerian lawyer who got a subpoena for the papers last year. The one supplied to Tinubu stated that he graduated on June 22, 1979, after being admitted in 1977, and the one given to Nigerian lawyer Mike Enahoro-Ebah stated that he graduated on June 27, 1979.
Nonetheless, additional admission documents given by CSU in response to the 2022 subpoena revealed that a specific Bola Tinubu, who was admitted to CSU in the same 1977, presented a Southwest College result belonging to a female.
Furthermore, Elnora Daniel, the CSU president who allegedly signed Tinubu’s 2022 diploma, only joined the school in 1998, 19 years after Tinubu was believed to have graduated. She allegedly signed the certificate as the school’s current president 14 years ago, in 2008, following a financial mismanagement crisis.
