The United States Court hearing the case of former Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar against President Bola Tinubu and the Chicago State University(CSU) has ruled that the University must release all non-confidential information relating to Tinubu, by Tuesday evening.
The presiding judge, Nancy Maldonado, dismissed Tinubu’s objection, and issued a two-day deadline to the 150 years old university to release the documents to Atiku.
Judge Maldonado upheld the September 20 ruling of US Magistrate Judge, Jeffery Gilbert, who ordered the CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records as requested by Atiku, stressing that the PDP candidate Atiku had the right to have access to the records.
“For the reasons stated in the Court’s accompanying Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court overrules President Tinubu’s objections (44] and adopts Judge Gilbert’s recommended decision [40] in full.
“The Court therefore grants Mr. Abubakar’s application under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. [1],” Justice Maldonado of the Northern District of Illinois ruled.
According to the judge, CSU must complete all necessary filings regarding the release by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The court ruled, “Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to Requests for Production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by Judge Gilbert and adopted by the District Court in its opinion) in Mr. Abubakar’s subpoena, by 12:00 p.m. (noon) CDT, on Monday, October 2, 2023.
“The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.”
The court explained that, for the avoidance of doubt, Tinubu’s Certificate and academic transcripts are not confidential and therefore must be released