Nigeria’s former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has lodged a fresh plea to Magistrate Judge Gilbert, explaining why it should sustain its earlier order to release academic records of President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that Tinubu had filed an appeal against the order of the court directing the Chicago State University—CSU to release his academic records to Abubakar.
The president had argued that he ought to have been joined in the suit since it is his personal information that is being sought.
Meanwhile, Atiku in his fresh objections, has requested the court to compel the release of the records by October 3, 2023, to enable him to utilize these records in the Nigerian Supreme Court on October 5.
Atiku’s legal team, in a comprehensive 17-page response, presented arguments to persuade Judge Nancy Maldonado to dismiss and reject Tinubu’s objections. They requested that the court should order CSU to provide Atiku with the requested documents.
Also, Atiku is urging the court to completely dismiss Tinubu’s objections. Should the objections be overruled, he requested the court to uphold Magistrate Jeffery T. Gilbert’s order and direct CSU to produce the necessary documents by October 2, 2023.
Additionally, the court should set the deposition no later than October 3, 2023, to allow for transcript finalization.
Atiku had previously obtained a court order compelling CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records to his legal team. Nonetheless, Tinubu’s legal counsel approached US District Judge Nancy Maldonado, arguing for a reconsideration of Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert’s prior decision.
Maldonado granted the request for a review and delayed the order until Monday.