President Bola Tinubu has asked a U.S Court for the Northern District of Ilinois to delay a Magistrate’s decision which ordered the Chicago State University to make a disclosure of his academic records based on a request by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
In an emergency motion filed before the court, Tinubu contends that the Magistrates Court went beyond its scope of authority, as it was only supposed to report and recommend to the District Court and not to issue a final order of compliance.
The order of the Magistrate issued on September 19 had mandated the Chicago State University to release the documents within two days, and also directed that designated officials from the school be subpoenaed to confirm the authenticity of the information requested for.
Tinubu is seeking a review of the action of the Magistrate. A document filed before the court and cited by AIT.live reads, “Intervenor asks this Court to enter an immediate order delaying the effect of the Magistrate’s order, at least until Monday, September 25, 2023, so the Court may fully consider both the scope of the Magistrate’s authority to issue the order without review, and the issue of whether the Magistrate’s order was a correct application of the law to the facts presented.
MUST READ: UNGA 2023: President Tinubu woos large-scale investors in America
Citing a number of authorities, including CPC Patent Technologies PTY Ltd. v. Apple, Inc., Tinubu submitted that considering the “nature of applications for discovery under 28 U.S.C. 1782, the Ninth Circuit concluded a magistrate may only report and recommend to a District judge.
The emergency motion was electronically filed with the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and a copy has been served on
all counsesl of record.
Atiku Abubakar had disputed Tinubu’s claim of attending the Chicago State University and suggested that he lied in information regarding his academic qualification.
Although the Chicago State University has consistently maintained that Tinubu was its student, Atiku Abubakar insisted on evidential proof of the claims by the school, by filing a motion before a Federal Court in Chicago
The order to depose designated officials of the Chicago State University to confirm that Tinubu actually attended and graduated from the institution comes after Atiku Abubakar’s petition challenging the election and qualification of Tinubu was dismissed by the Presidential Election Petition Court on Wednesday, September 6.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
