The ongoing legal dispute between President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar concerning his academic records at Chicago State University has entered a new phase.
This development comes as Olajide Adeniji, who claims to be a former classmate of the ex-Lagos Governor, has taken an oath to confirm his acquaintance with Tinubu.
Adeniji testified in a U.S. district court, stating that he had personal knowledge of contesting against Tinubu for the position of President within the Accounting Society Club at their shared alma mater, the Department of Business Admin/Accounting.
After Durojaiye Ogunsanya, a public affairs analyst, proclaimed himself as a classmate of the Nigerian president, this occurrence is now making headlines two weeks later.
Ogunsanya, who was featured on TVC’s popular breakfast show ‘This Morning,’ testified that they both graduated from the Department of Accounting and Business Administration in 1979 at the same university.
In the oath taken on September 23 at the Northern District of Illinois Court in Chicago, Adeniji swore to an affidavit that he was familiar with the same Tinubu who is the current president of Nigeria.
His affidavit read,
- “I, Olajide Adeniji, after having been first duly sworn upon oath, do hereby state that I am over 21 years of age, that I have personal knowledge of the facts stated herein, and could competently testify thereto if called upon to do so: I attended Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois from 1977 to 1979 when I graduated with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting in 1979.
- “I am familiar with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is now the President of Nigeria. I was a student at Chicago State University from 1977 to 1979 and Bola Tinubu and I were in the same course of study.”
- “I am familiar with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is now the President of Nigeria. I was a student at Chicago State University from 1977 to 1979 and Bola Tinubu and I were in the same course of study.
- “I also ran in a closely-contested race against Bola Tinubu for the Leadership of Accounting Society Club of the Department of Business Administration/Accounting. I also recognize and know the person who I attended Chicago State University with, Bola A. Tinubu, is the same person who is now the President of Nigeria. Under 28 U.S.C 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct”.
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Atiku had secured an application for CSU to make the president’s academic records available to his legal team.
Acting on the application, a magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, had ordered Tinubu’s alma mater to provide all relevant and non-privileged documents to the applicant within two days.
Atiku is currently challenging the victory of the former Lagos State governor at the 2023 presidential poll and his recent affirmation by an election petition court in Nigeria.
The documents sought by the PDP candidate, through his counsel, Angela Liu, include the record of admission and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance including degrees, awards, and honours attained by the former governor of Lagos State at the university, among others.
But Tinubu, on Monday, pleaded with the US District Judge, Nancy Maldonado, to order Chicago State University to protect his privileged information such as admission records, transcripts, and gender, and release only his certificate to the legal team of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The motion to preclude other documents was filed by the president’s lawyer, Christopher Carmichael, who stressed that ‘the most critical fact has already been clearly and unequivocally established’ by his alma mater.
