The Chicago State University (CSU) has released the academic records of President Bola Tinubu, following requests by Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election.
Over the weekend, the US district court for the northern district of Illinois ordered the CSU to release the academic records of Tinubu.
In response to Abubakar’s third request — which was to release a copy of the diplomas issued in 1997 — the university said the certificates match the format of the Tinubu replacement dated June 27, 1997.
“The documents responsive to this request which CSU, after diligent search, has been able to locate are produced herewith and Bates labelled CSU 0008 through CSU 0010. The students’ names on these diplomas have been redacted for privacy reasons. CSU is also producing, Bates labelled as CSU 0011 and 0012, diplomas produced for other CSU students (with their names redacted for privacy) which match the format of the Tinubu replacement dated June 27, 1997,” the university wrote.
Several samples of diplomas (certificates) awarded in 1979 to other students were released by the university as demanded by Abubakar.
Tinubu had previously claimed to have lost his original certificates but presented a replacement for his CSU diploma to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 presidential election.
In the new documents released by CSU, Tinubu was addressed as a “Mr” in what looked like an admission letter.
He also ticked “male” in the undergraduate admissions application form.
However, some of the transcripts circulating on the internet read “F”, suggesting “female”.
The samples of diplomas issued in 1997 released by CSU bear the same font and logo of what Tinubu submitted to INEC, but there is a discrepancy in the date.
CSU had, in its affidavit, taken responsibility for the discrepancy, blaming it on clerical error.
On September 19, Jeffrey Gilbert, a US magistrate judge, granted the request and ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records within 24 hours.
However, the president moved to block it by filing an appeal against the order.
Nancy Maldonado, a federal judge, overruled Tinubu’s objections and ordered CSU to release the president’s academic records.
In its response to Abubakar’s request, the university said it could not find a copy of the original certificate it issued to Tinubu in 1979.
“CSU does not in the ordinary course keep copies of student diplomas, and after diligent search cannot locate a copy of the original diploma prepared for Mr Tinubu in 1979, hence has no documents responsive to this request,” the institution said.
The university released redacted diplomas of other students similar to that of Tinubu’s to show that the president graduated from its institution in the aforementioned year.