Justice Nancy Maldonado has upheld Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert’s decision to order Chicago State University to release President Bola Tinubu’s records to Atiku Abubakar.
This ruling was made on Saturday, September 30, as per the District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. President Tinubu’s attempt to prevent the release of these documents through an appeal has been unsuccessful.
Consequently, Chicago State University (CSU) is now set to release relevant non-privileged documents on Monday, October 2. The deposition by CSU is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3.
In her 33-page ruling, Justice Maldonado affirmed the decision:
“The court overrules President Tinubu’s objections to Magistrate Judge Gilbert’s recommended ruling and therefore adopts the ruling in full.
“Mr Abubakar’s application is therefore granted.
“In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, represented to the court as October 5, 2023 and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery.
“Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to requests for Production Nos-1 through 4( as narrowed by Judge Gilbert and adopted here) in Mr. Abubakar’s subpoena by 12.00p.m(noon) CDT on Monday October 2, 2023. The Rule 30(b)( 6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5.00pm CDT on Tuesday October 3, 2023.
“Given the October 5, 2023 filing deadline before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the court will not extend or modify these deadlines”
Atiku’s request for an officially verified copy of Tinubu’s diploma certificate will not be fulfilled by CSU, as they have stated that diploma certificates are merely ceremonial and that they do not keep records of students’ certificates, not just for Mr. Tinubu but for all students.
Therefore, they cannot authenticate it without having a copy of the original certificate.
The primary documents that CSU will provide on Monday are the ones certified by Jamar Orr and were presented at the Nigerian Tribunal on July 6th, which are already in the public domain. These documents include Tinubu’s admission letter to the school and his academic transcripts.
Additionally, Jamar Orr, the individual who certified these documents, will give an oral deposition on Tuesday. During this deposition, he will solemnly confirm that he certified the documents that were submitted at the Tribunal.
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