US court dismisses Atiku’s suit seeking Tinubu’s academic records

A US court has dismissed a suit filed by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar requesting the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu said he holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the Chicago State University.

In January 2023, Beverly Poindexter, the staff in charge of transcript requests, enrolment and degree verification, confirmed that the president attended the university between 1977 and 1979.

However, Atiku, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, has maintained that the president’s academic records were forged.

Recently, Atiku filed a suit seeking to subpoena the university to produce Tinubu’s academic records.

Documents sought by Atiku, through his counsel, Angela Liu, include a record of Tinubu’s admission and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance including degrees, awards and honours attained by Tinubu at the university, among others.

Responding to the suit in an affidavit, Caleb Westberg, registrar of Chicago State University, said: “Bola Ahmed Tinubu graduated and was awarded a degree from Chicago State University on June 22, 1979.

“Chicago State University provided a diploma to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and subsequently provided a certified (or official) copy of that diploma. Both are valid and authentic diplomas of Chicago State University.

“There are certain differences between the diploma and the certified copy because all diplomas are signed by the current President/Board Chair.

“There are also differences in the font and seal on the diploma versus the certified copy because the University updated its font and seal after the diploma was issued.

“The difference in the date of award on the diploma versus the certified copy is likely the result of human error. The graduation date on the certified copy is typed in manually by a person and can be inaccurate.”

But Atiku withdrew the suit before the date fixed for the hearing.

In a ruling delivered on July 31, Patrick Heneghan, presiding judge at the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois, dismissed the case following the withdrawal.

“Petitioner’s subpoena in this case is withdrawn and thus Chicago State University will not be deposed pursuant to the subpoena in this case,” the judge held.

“The case is dismissed without prejudice and resolves all matters pending before the court.”