In a recent development, a United States court has issued an order to temporarily halt the enforcement of a previous directive that required Chicago State University to disclose the academic records of President Bola Tinubu to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
During an emergency hearing held on Thursday, Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Northern Illinois, Eastern Division, granted the postponement of the order that mandated Chicago State University to furnish President Tinubu’s academic documents.
This decision provides a momentary respite for both Chicago State University and Mr. Tinubu, as they vigorously contest the court’s mandate to release the requested documents.
On the other hand, the ruling amounts to a setback for Atiku who is racing against time to obtain the documents for use in his ongoing legal challenge of Mr Tinubu’s victory in the 25 February election in the Nigerian courts.
Both the Nigerian and U.S. proceedings have garnered interest internationally.
Mr Tinubu had filed the emergency motion to halt Chicago State University (CSU) from releasing his academic records to Atiku.
Earlier in the week, the U.S. court ordered the Chicago State University to release “all relevant and non-privileged documents” to Atiku within two days.
The Magistrate Judge, who oversaw the hearing, Jeffrey Gilbert, ordered CSU to release the documents to Atiku by the end of Thursday.
But Mr Tinubu asked the court to delay the implementation of that order until at least Monday, 25 September.
