It’s too late for Atiku to use Chicago university records against me — Tinubu
2 min read
Bola Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu has declared that the attempt by the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to use his Chicago State University—CSU academic records against him at the elections petitions tribunal is nothing but a waste of time because the court was no longer admitting evidence.
In the presidenti election held on February 25, Mr Abubakar finished second with 6.9 million votes, trailing closely behind Mr Tinubu, who had 8.7 million votes and was declared winner.
But the discrepancies in Mr Tinubu’s credentials prompted Mr Abubakar to approach the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to subpoena CSU into releasing the president’s records to aid his argument at the elections tribunal in Nigeria before September 21 when judgment is anticipated.
Mr Abubakar had sought a nullification of Mr Tinubu’s election triumph on the grounds of alleged electoral fraud, narcotics dealing and election irregularities at the tribunal, where he also hope to tender the CSU as evidence to substantiate his claims to provide a strong argument.
But Mr Tinubu, in his defence at the U.S. federal court, said it was unnecessary to release his records to Mr Abubakar at this point, asserting deadlines for admitting any evidence in the elections tribunal elapsed in July.
“Furthermore, the evidentiary portion of the electoral court proceeding closed July 29, 2023, and a judgment is currently in the process of issuing. (Exhibit 7, Report of Pre-Hearing Session.) Therefore, there is no indication that the Nigerian election court would receive any additional evidence,” Mr Tinubu asserted in his response to application for issue of discovery on August 23 through his lawyers, Chicago-based Charles Carmichael and Oluwole Afolabi.
The president implied that the case in Nigeria had advanced to the stage where all parties are only awaiting judgment and any submission of evidence by Mr Abubakar would only contradict the court’s order.
“Although, Mr Abubakar’s counsel believes it can attempt to submit additional evidence, that would be contrary to what the election court already ordered,” argued Mr Tinubu’s lawyers. “Based on the nature of the tribunal and the proceedings underway, the electoral court would not allow the material sought by the application to be admitted.”
Mr Tinubu’s lawyers contended that the main piece of information requested by Mr Abubakar was whether the Nigerian leader had received a diploma and graduated from CSU, which the university registrar verified in its affidavit, and that the other pieces of information sought were irrelevant.
“The rest is immaterial,” the lawyers stated.
