President Bola Tinubu has expressed that Atiku Abubakar’s efforts to acquire his academic records from Chicago State University (CSU) amount to a “fishing expedition.”
In a response filed on Thursday, Tinubu argued that the magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, who granted Abubakar access to the records on September 19, did not have the authority to issue such an order under section 1782 of the US statute.
Tinubu maintained that the information sought could not be used to support the appeal of the opposition candidate before the Nigerian Supreme Court, as Abubakar claimed.
According to Tinubu, Abubakar’s insistence on obtaining the records from CSU reflects a “misunderstanding” of the presidential election petition tribunal’s judgment.
He said:
“The Nigerian court decision precluded applicant (Atiku) from asserting the theory he seeks to support with discovery here.”
“Applicant’s response notes but ignores the fact that he included only a single, general sentence about Intervenor being ‘not qualified’ in his 200+ petition in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian court made clear that the applicant’s conduct precluded him from asserting any facts surrounding that generalized statement finding that the applicant either failed to explain “what [he] meant by qualification for the election or simply deliberately kept it back when filing [his] petition.
“Applicant’s failure to include supporting allegations to flush out the general statement in his petition forecloses any opportunity to try to submit new material to the Nigerian supreme court.
Tinubu further contended that the U.S. federal rules do not allow a “fishing expedition” to challenge established facts, and this provides another justification for denying Abubakar’s application.
He asserted that the magistrate made an error in granting the application and ordering Chicago State University to comply with the subpoenas for documents and a deposition.
“The ruling should be set aside, and the application denied,” he added.
Abubakar had requested these documents on the grounds that the records Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were not his original certificates and had been altered, which could potentially invalidate Tinubu’s election victory.
On September 19, a U.S. magistrate court granted Abubakar’s request and ordered CSU to provide Tinubu’s records within 48 hours.
Subsequently, on September 21, Tinubu filed a motion to prevent CSU from releasing his records.
He also filed an appeal to completely overturn the magistrate court’s ruling.