Atiku’s Legal Team Plans Fresh Suit Against Tinubu Over Chicago Academic Records

The legal team representing Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is gearing up to file a new motion challenging President Bola Tinubu’s plea to prevent Chicago State University (CSU) from disclosing certain privileged documents within his academic records.

Special Adviser to Atiku on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, has confirmed that the legal team has a 48-hour window to respond to the motion in the US court.

Previously, Atiku secured an order compelling CSU to make President Tinubu’s academic records accessible to his legal team. Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert issued this order just last week, mandating Tinubu’s alma mater to provide all relevant and non-privileged documents to Atiku’s legal team within two days.

Atiku is currently contesting the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, which saw former Lagos State Governor Tinubu emerge as the victor and later receive affirmation by an election petition court in Nigeria.

The documents sought by Atiku, through his counsel Angela Liu, include Tinubu’s record of admission and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance, degrees, awards, and honors received during his tenure at the institution, among other details.

However, as the deadline set by Magistrate Gilbert approached on Thursday, Tinubu’s legal team petitioned for a review and requested a delay in the order’s execution until Monday, a request ultimately granted by a US district judge.

Tinubu’s legal application, submitted by his lawyers Oluwole Afolabi and Christopher Charmichael, cited two key reasons for their objection. Firstly, they argued that Tinubu’s academic records would not be useful in Nigerian courts, as previous election proceedings in Nigeria have shown little receptivity to such discoveries. Secondly, they contended that Atiku’s request was overly intrusive, allowing him to conduct an unwarranted investigation into Tinubu’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.

When questioned about whether Atiku had filed the anticipated suit as he had previously threatened, Phrank Shaibu confirmed that the former vice president would submit the motion before midnight. He added, “I am sure you have seen his application. We are working on our response. We have until midnight today (Wednesday) to respond to them, and we will.”

Regarding the expected timeline for the court’s ruling on the matter, Shaibu noted, “It is after we have responded to the court that it will fix the date and inform the parties.”

Coordinator of Tinubu’s Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala, who was reached for comment, declined to provide a statement, stating, “As I told you earlier, I am still on vacation.”