The Chicago State University, USA, on Thursday, confirmed that Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu graduated from the institution in 1979.
The university in its response to a request by Tinubu’s opponent and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar to release the president’s credentials indicated that it was ready to release Tinubu’s result if Atiku’s request is granted by the court.
Atiku and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi are currently contesting the victory of Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
Atiku’s lawyers have sought Tinubu’s academic credentials from the Chicago State University for details that have remained unclear, but desperately sought by Atiku’s legal team.
The PDP posted the university’s response on its verified Twitter X handle on Thursday with great excitement despite the university’s insistence that the request was inappropriate, while asking the court to direct “only limited and targeted discovery” of the information sought by Atiku who was presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election.
Atiku had dragged Tinubu before the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois due to alleged discrepancy in the president’s academic credentials.
The PDP twitted: “This is now official. The Chicago State University in the United States of America, in response to the application filed by the @OfficialPDPNig and its Presidential Candidate in the February 25, 2023 Election, @Atiku has agreed to release the credentials of Bola A. Tinubu.
“Nigerians and members of the international community are eagerly waiting for this information as this will form greater part of the decision making process of the petition before the court.”
However, in the letter of response, the university pointed out that it defers the privacy of Tinubu until the court directs otherwise, as it is not an actor in the court case and does not understance the circjmstances under which the academic document is being sought, insisting that the scope and relevancy of Atiku’s requests are “clearly inappropriate.”
The Chicago State University indicated that it was ready to meet Atiku’s lawyers “to attempt to address all the university’s concerns.”
