In a US court on Monday, the legal teams of President Bola Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar will pick up where they left off in their dispute on the President’s academic records from Chicago.
On Thursday, US District Judge Nancy Maldonado granted a request to postpone a ruling ordering Chicago State University to provide Atiku’s legal team with Tinubu’s academic record.
The hearing was scheduled for late Thursday night after the President’s attorneys submitted an emergency motion asking for a delay in the self-effectuating order’s enforcement until Monday, which instructed the CSU to abide by Atiku’s subpoenas.
Atiku is currently contesting the former governor of Lagos State’s victory in the 2023 presidential election as well as the court’s subsequent confirmation of that outcome.
A magistrate named Jeffrey Gilbert had earlier on Tuesday mandated that Tinubu’s alma mater give the applicant, Atiku, access to all pertinent, non-privileged records within two days.
Documents requested by the PDP candidate through his attorney, Angela Liu, include the former governor of Lagos State’s record of entrance and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance, and degrees, honours, and awards received at the institution.
However, when the deadline set by Gilbert on Thursday drew nearer, Tinubu’s attorneys went to Maldonado and argued that Gilbert’s earlier judgement needed to be reviewed by a district court.
The US district court granted the request for a review and a postponement of the ruling until Monday.
Maldonado stated during the emergency hearing that she would make a decision as soon as she could, keeping in mind Nigerian legal deadlines.
I’ll be busy this weekend. Process and rules are at question. I like following rules. I am a judge for that reason. This case is really complex. I am conscious of the risks. I want to do this correctly more than anything,” she declared.
