The National Coalition for Democracy in the United States of America, NADECO USA, has urged President Bola Tinubu to save Nigeria from further embarrassment and resign from his position as the President of Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Lloyd F. Ukwu on 25th of September, 2023, it stated that Nigeria is in the throes of deep international image, domestic and regional crisis, and held in disdain internationally.
Emphasizing the alleged result falsification which had brought Chicago State University in disrepute and on the verge of losing credibility and accreditation, called on the former governor of Lagos State to save himself and 200 million Nigerians by resigning.
The statement also stated that with the resignation of President Tinubu, Nigerians might forgive him and his secrecy legacy at CSU may no longer bear the stain of his political pursuits.
Recall that former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar dragged President Tinubu and the Chicago State University to the United States Court in Illinois over the result falsification and prayed that his academic records be released to the public.
In his August 2nd ruling, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert ordered that the academic records be released not later than October 2 but Tinubu approached a United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, to stay the order till Monday, September 25, when he would file his appeal against the order stating that the order was erred as the document requested is not of use in Nigeria.
Ha also disclosed that only the Diploma Certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should be released and reviewed by Atiku.
In response, Atiku stated that Tinubu asserted that Judge Gilbert “gave no weight to the decision of the Court of Appeal, in addressing the receptivity of the Nigerian courts to the new evidence.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court should overrule the Objections in their entirety.”
He further urged that “If the Court overrules the Objections, Applicant respectfully requests that it enter an order requiring production of documents no later than October 2, 2023, and the deposition scheduled no later than October 3, to allow time for transcripts to be finalized, and the discovery obtained to be sent to Nigeria (which is six (6) hours ahead) by October 4 so that such evidence may, in turn, be filed with the Supreme Court by October 5, which is when Applicant’s Nigerian counsel intend to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court.”
Atiku’s case as “a straightforward Section 1782 application”, Liu, argued that, “Contrary to Intervenor’s inflated rhetoric, Applicant is not seeking “to conduct a fishing expedition into Intervenor’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.
His submission as shared by Arise TV reads, “Rather, Applicant seeks to test (1) the authenticity and origin of 12 pages of documents (including two very different diplomas) that purport to have been issued by CSU (the “CSU documents”) —all of which have already been submitted to the Nigerian courts and widely published in the media; and (2) the basis for CSU’s categorical assertion that Tinubu received a B.S. degree in 1979, given discrepancies between information in the CSU documents and information in his affidavit submitted to INEC.
“If, as Intervenor asserts, he graduated from CSU in 1979—and the CSU documents are authentic copies issued by CSU—there is no reason why he should oppose the limited discovery Applicant seeks.”
Atiku also reiterated that Tinubhu failed to prove that the documents he sought would not be accepted by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in its appeal against the presidential election judgement.
“As Judge Gilbert noted, the Court of Appeal declined to consider that evidence and the underlying argument because they were not “raised for the first time in the initial Petition,” and that Applicant intends to appeal (and now has appealed) that decision. Because Applicant submitted evidence in his application that there is “a mechanism by which new evidence could be presented to the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” the discovery sought meets the “for use” requirement.
“Further, the Intervenor himself has submitted documents that were supposedly certified by CSU in the related Obi case. Discovery as to whether CSU provided and certified those documents (and under what circumstances) is also relevant to these issues.
“Finally, Intervenor’s unsupported assertion that the heightened relevance of the authenticity of the diploma obviates the discovery concerning Tinubu’s election qualifications, including whether he attended CSU, makes no sense.
“An order directing discovery on the former need not come at the expense, or to the exclusion of, the latter. The Court should overrule the objection as to the “for use” requirement.”
