The United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois has ruled in favor of Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. The court ordered Chicago State University to release Bola Tinubu’s academic records by Monday.
Despite Tinubu’s lawyers deeming the documents irrelevant to Atiku’s Supreme Court appeal, the court emphasized Atiku’s right to access the records. Tinubu’s objections were overruled, and the court set an expedited schedule for discovery, stressing no opinion on the merits of claims.
The PDP sees the verdict as reinforcing Atiku’s position, while Tinubu’s legal team downplays the importance of academic documents. President Tinubu’s appeal is considered a needless route, and the judgment is expected to support Atiku’s case before the Supreme Court.
Efforts to reach the APC spokesman, Felix Morka, were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, one of the President’s attorneys, Oluwole Afolabi, stated that the Electoral Act does not allow for the introduction of new evidence on appeal.
“A party must provide a list of the documents he intends to rely on at the time his petition is filed. A party cannot spring a surprise on his adversary by introducing evidence that was not filed along with the petition,” Afolabi said.
Similarly, the Coordinator of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), said, “The documents can no longer be used. It is of no value. We have passed that stage.”
“One is whether President Tinubu attended Chicago State University. The answer is yes. Second, what were his grades in school? The school had already provided that,” Ogala said.
