A court in Chicago, United States, has ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to within two days, hand over all records relating to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu’s studentship of the school, to his main challenger in the 2023 presidential election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar within two days.
The court, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday in an application filed by Atiku Abubakar, held that the former vice president has been able to sufficiently satisfy the purpose for seeking the records.
The former vice president, who ran on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, is seeking the documents to prove that Tinubu was not eligible to vie for the presidential election when he did.
Magistrate judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, also ordered a deposition of designated university officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.
“For all of the reasons discussed above, Atiku Abubakar’s application pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for an order directing discovery from Chicago State University for use in a foreign proceeding [ECF No. 1] is granted,” Mr Gilbert ruled.
“Respondent CSU shall produce all relevant and non-privileged documents in response to requests for production Nos. 1 through 4 (as narrowed by the court) in applicant subpoena within two days of the entry of this memorandum opinion and order.
“The deposition of respondent’s corporate designee shall proceed within two days of the production of documents. The parties can modify the dates set by the court by mutual agreement. Given the tight time frame under which the parties are operating, the deposition can, if necessary, occur on a non-weekday,” the court added.
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