The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has rendered a verdict in support of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar. The court has mandated Chicago State University to provide President Tinubu’s academic records to the former vice president by Monday, October 2.
Judge Nancy Maldonado, in a copy of the judgment obtained by PUNCH on Sunday, noted that CSU raised no objection to Judge Jeffery Gilbert’s decision that the academic record be made public.
The court explained that any intrusion on Tinubu’s privacy interests in his educational records is outweighed by Atiku’s interest in the sought-after discovery.
Maldonado overruled Tinubu’s objections to Gilbert’s recommended ruling and therefore adopted the ruling in full.
The memorandum opinion and order read in part, “Atiku’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.
“The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. 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.”