In a startling development, the ongoing legal tussle involving President Bola Tinubu’s academic records has taken an unexpected twist. The demand for these records, initiated by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar, has led to the emergence of errors on the documents, adding a new layer of complexity to the case.
President Tinubu’s legal team, in response to Atiku’s inquiry, has placed blame on a veteran clerk at the prestigious Chicago State University (CSU), alleging that inaccuracies on the documents can be attributed to the clerk’s oversight.
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had stipulated a deadline of August 23 for President Tinubu to provide a formal defense against the release of his academic records to petitioner Atiku Abubakar.
In a surprising revelation, President Tinubu’s lawyers have argued that the discrepancies in the dates on his recently-issued certificate were unintentional errors made by the university clerk. These discrepancies, they contend, have given rise to a misperception of inconsistencies in President Tinubu’s graduation timeline.
This new angle was presented during a hearing presided over by Judge Jeffery Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
Atiku’s move to subpoena Chicago State University stems from the belief that uncovering President Tinubu’s academic records will shed light on the controversies surrounding his educational claims.
Questions about the authenticity of President Tinubu’s submissions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been raised, particularly due to a historical document suggesting a female student named Bola Tinubu, born on March 29, 1954, attended the university. President Tinubu’s conflicting claims of being born in 1952 and 1954 have only fueled the uncertainty.
Past statements made by President Tinubu regarding his educational history in Nigeria have faced scrutiny as well. Initially asserting attendance at institutions such as Government College Ibadan during his 1999 Lagos State gubernatorial run, he later retracted these statements. Furthermore, alterations to his educational background, including the removal of primary and secondary education details from records, have added to the controversy.
Atiku’s quest for President Tinubu’s academic records aims to clarify the early education credentials that were presented to Chicago University prior to his admission.
Central to Atiku’s argument is the contention that President Tinubu has provided conflicting information in Nigeria and the United States. President Tinubu’s legal representatives, Oluwole Afolabi and Christopher Carmichael, have acknowledged the errors in CSU’s response while maintaining that the subpoena was without grounds.
