Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, claimed on Thursday that the dispute surrounding the certificate from Chicago State University that President Bola Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission puts Nigeria’s credibility in jeopardy.
He also encouraged the relevant parties to prove the veracity of the President’s certificate that was submitted to the electoral umpire in order to safeguard the democratic principles.
Atiku stated that “our nation’s reputation is at risk, and that impacts Nigerians everywhere and wherever they may be.”
According to Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert’s order, the university made the President’s academic records public on Monday, and on Tuesday, CSU Registrar Carl Westberg conducted a deposition of the data.
Gilbert had accepted Atiku’s request for access to Tinubu’s academic records on September 19, but the President requested a review of the decision.
In their request for a review of the decision, Tinubu’s attorneys maintained that the records would not be relevant in Atiku’s Supreme Court case against Tinubu.
Tinubu objected, but federal judge Nancy Maldonado dismissed them and mandated that the CSU make the President’s academic records public.
In the CSU records, the organisation acknowledged that Tinubu had visited the CSU in addition to responding to Atiku’s four requests.
The Presidency, meanwhile, asserted on Wednesday that the academic documents made public by the university had vindicated the President and established his status as a graduate of the institution.
Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President for Media and Public Affairs, further asserted that the CSU never claimed in its evidence that the certificate Tinubu delivered to the Independent National Electoral Commission prior to the presidential election was fake.
Atiku would on Thursday (today) file his application at the Supreme Court after obtaining Tinubu’s academic records pursuant to a court order from Illinois, Chicago.
In order to support his election appeal before the Supreme Court, Atiku, who campaigned against Tinubu in the February presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, is anticipated to file the documents he received from the CSU.
Details to come…
