Judge Nancy Maldonado says the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago has been inundated with emails from Nigerians eagerly anticipating her decision on whether or not she will order Chicago State University (CSU) to release President Bola Tinubu’s records.
As a result, she has decided to issue a ruling on the matter “as soon as possible,” a court filing seen by Peoples Gazette stated.
“The Court notes that Court staff has received extensive email communications from members of the public related to this case,” stated the court document entered into docket on Friday.
Consequently, the “Court will endeavour to issue a written ruling as soon as possible,” the document noted acknowledging that the matter was of utmost interest to Nigerians curious to learn the background of their leader and had sent the court a flurry of emails.
“The Court understands the significant public interest in this dispute but the Court will not consider any third-party or ex parte submissions.”
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Messrs Tinubu and Abubakar have been at loggerheads over the discrepancies in the Nigerian leader’s CSU records, as the institution in response to a previous subpoena in 2022, released documents showing a female Bola Tinubu from South West college was admitted to the school to pursue a degree in accounting.
Also at issue was CSU’s adamant refusal to authenticate the diploma Mr Tinubu submitted to Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, to be genuine or falsified, which has fuelled allegations of forgery and perjury for which Mr Abubakar is seeking to void Mr Tinubu’s election victory at Nigeria’s Supreme Court.
Further confusing Mr Abubakar were the signatures on the diploma that Mr Tinubu submitted to INEC, which were those of two women, Elnora Daniel and Niva Lubin who joined CSU in 1998 and 1996, nearly 20 years after the president graduated in 1979.
“The June 22 diploma has indicia of forgery,” Angela Liu, the U.S. attorney representing Mr Abubakar, told the court on Wednesday.
Judge Jeffrey Gilbert on September 20 had ordered CSU to release Mr Tinubu’s records but the president begged Ms Maldonado to delay the order’s enforcement, pleading severe and irreparable damage to his life.
On September 6, the presidential elections petitions tribunal upheld Mr Tinubu’s election victory. However, Mr Abubakar strongly believes the decision was deeply flawed and a miscarriage of justice, leading him to file an appeal at the nation’s Supreme Court where he plans to use the CSU records to show the president may have committed forgery and perjury, two serious allegations that, if proven, would not only result in Mr Tinubu’s dismissal but also could permanently dent his political career.
– PeopleGazzate