According to President Bola Tinubu’s legal team, the academic transcripts from Chicago State University would not be accepted in the Supreme Court in order to challenge the results of the Nigerian presidential election in 2023.
This opinion was made public after the Chicago State University (CSU) was ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to give former vice president Atiku Abubakar access to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic record by Monday, October 2.
Judge Nancy Maldonado of the US Court observed in the most recent ruling that CSU had no objections to Judge Jeffery Gilbert’s decision to make Tinubu’s academic record public.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Tinubu was declared the winner of the Nigerian election on February 25. Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is contesting that result in a petition.
According to his claims, Tinubu did not earn a degree from Chicago State University as indicated by his academic transcripts.
However, one of the President’s attorneys, Oluwole Afolabi, was quoted as saying that the records would not be helpful to Atiku before the Nigerian Supreme Court in response to the most recent judgment of the US court requiring the release of President Tinubu’s records.
He claims that the Electoral Act prohibits the submission of fresh evidence during an appeal.
“At the time his petition is submitted, a party must include a list of the papers he plans to rely on. A party cannot surprise its opponent by presenting material that was not submitted with the petition, according to Afolabi in a Whatsapp message obtained by PM News.
Similarly, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), Coordinator of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team, asserted that the documents have no current significance.
The documents are no longer usable, he claimed. It has no worth. That phase has past.
Whether President Tinubu attended Chicago State University is question number one. Yes, it is the answer. What were his academic standings, secondly? That was already provided by the school.