Atiku Challenges Tinubu’s Privacy Objection in Academic Records Case
ABUJA/Nigeria: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, has countered President Bola Tinubu’s objections to the release of his academic records from Chicago State University (CSU). The contentious case took a new turn on Wednesday as Atiku responded to Tinubu’s privacy-related objections.
In his response, Atiku firmly asserted that Tinubu’s objections lacked merit and competency. According to the former Vice President, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert had already addressed all of Tinubu’s objections after carefully considering the arguments presented by both parties.
The legal dispute stems from a September 19th ruling by the court, which favored Atiku’s application for discovery over Tinubu’s plea for privacy protection under the Federal Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA). Tinubu, who had initially submitted various grounds for denying Atiku’s request, argued that the release of his educational records violated his right to privacy and contravened US laws.
Atiku’s legal team, led by Angela Liu, countered Tinubu’s claims by pointing out that FERPA and analogous state laws do not establish an independent privilege for educational records and cannot serve as a shield against a court-issued subpoena. They argued that Tinubu himself had placed his educational records into question by submitting them to INEC and introducing them into Nigerian legal proceedings, making the privacy argument untenable.
Furthermore, Atiku highlighted the existence of a mechanism in the Supreme Court of Nigeria to admit fresh evidence, citing Supreme Court Order 2. He emphasized that his application was a straightforward Section 1782 application aimed at testing the authenticity and origin of documents purporting to be from CSU, as well as questioning the basis of Tinubu’s 1979 graduation claim.
In conclusion, Atiku stated that the objections raised by Tinubu were without merit and requested the court to overrule them entirely. He urged the court to order the production of documents by October 2, 2023, and schedule the deposition for October 3, allowing time for transcripts to be finalized and the obtained discovery to be sent to Nigeria by October 4. This timeline aligns with Atiku’s intention to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court of Nigeria by October 5.
The legal battle over the release of Tinubu’s academic records continues to unfold, with both sides firmly asserting their positions in this high-stakes dispute.
