In the upcoming week, Nigerians will be subjected to a historic court dispute over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic records at Chicago State University (CSU).
Remember that US District Judge Nancy Maldonado on Thursday decided to postpone her ruling for Chicago State University to provide Tinubu’s academic transcript to Atiku Abubakar’s legal team.
A magistrate named Jeffrey Gilbert had earlier on Tuesday mandated that Tinubu’s alma mater give the applicant, Atiku, access to all pertinent, non-privileged records within two days.
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However, Tinubu’s attorneys approached Maldonado and argued that a district judge should examine Gilbert’s earlier ruling.
Atiku’s media advisor, Paul Ibe, told Newsmen that the President shouldn’t keep anything a secret.
He claimed that whatever was concealed will come to light as Atiku’s camp awaited the outcome of the legal proceedings.
Ibe said, “What is in that file if it is released that would bring harm that is irreparable to him (Tinubu)? It has become important for Bola Tinubu to let Nigerians know what he is hiding in his academic record at Chicago University.
“We cannot mortgage the destiny of over 200 million people for the interest of one individual. He is bringing embarrassment to Nigeria; it is shameful, and it is a tragedy to have something as simple as releasing your records to be subject to public scrutiny.
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“Nigerians should begin to take an interest in this matter. Nigerians should be asking questions about what is going on. Why should the President of Nigeria not be a product of due process, transparency, and accountability? It has never reached this low, and it is unfortunate. We will get him.
“We will await the court process. They can only stall, but finally, whatever it is that is being hidden will be released.”
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), on its part, has pleaded with President Tinubu to permit the disclosure of his academic records.
Yakubu Shemdam, the party’s new national publicity secretary, predicted that this would ease the mounting hostility and mistrust among his detractors.
He forewarned that if the certificate problem was allowed to spiral out of control, it might distract the President.
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“As a party, we have been following the drama. But, of course, we are not part of the people who filed an application to demand his records from Chicago University.
“But we think that if he has nothing to hide, definitely he should do the needful by allowing the people who requested those records to have access to them, especially now that the US judiciary is already involved in the matter.
“The earlier they do this, the better so that the President can continue to focus on the developmental plans he has for Nigerians. This is because what is happening now is causing a lot of distraction in the country. Many people are beginning to agitate and question the motion being filed to stop the release of the documents. There is a saying that a clear conscience fears no accusation,” he said.
According to Peter Obi’s campaign team, the President must present his academic credentials to refute his detractors, emphasising that his justification for clinging to the outcome is untenable.
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The Chief Spokesman of Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, told Newsmen, “Can you imagine the President stating in the motion he filed that releasing the result could cause him irreparable harm? You begin to wonder what that was supposed to mean. It is very sad.
“If I am a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University who has my records intact and I know they are clean, why do I have to stop the university from releasing my result? It will assist me if ABU quickly issues it so that I can get out of this particular accusation. What this simply means is that the President has something to hide. The learned judge that they are attempting to blame acted according to his power.
“What the Chicago State University said was that it can only act on an order from the court to release the result. Why is the President not interested in having it published if truly he attended that particular school? This will further make the people more inquisitive to find out exactly what that result contains. If there is nothing to hide, they should publish it so that everybody can go and rest.”
However, prior to Monday’s court hearing, Tinubu Presidential Legal Team Coordinator Babatunde Ogala stated that the team was prepared for Atiku’s next move.
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He said, “We submitted our application, and the order has been suspended. We are starting all over again.
“If they like, let them do a Plan C. We are not sleeping either. We will meet them there.
“Instead of recommending to the judge, the magistrate was ruling, which he has no power to do. We told the judge, and he agreed. So the whole process of what he has done was set aside.”
He, however, refused to speak on whether the President is hiding something from Nigerians.
“There is nothing new to say beyond what you have. We will wait till next week,” he said.
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