Atiku Abubakar

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 polls has filed a fresh application at the US District Court for an order directing discovery from Chicago State University of the record of President Bola Tinubu.

Angela M. Liu, the United States counsel to the PDP candidate, filed the application with Case No. 23-cv-5099 pursuant to 28 United States Constitution 1782.

Liu, in the application, told the court she made efforts, including a subpoena, to get the university to confirm or deny the issuance of two diploma certificates with different dates to no avail.

She told the court that “I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth in her declaration, except as where specifically noted”, adding that “if called upon as a witness, I could and would testify competently thereto“.

The document she filed before the court and obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday is a 24-paragraph declaration in support of the Application, pursuant to 28 U.S.C 1782, for an Order granting leave to serve the Subpoenas attached to the Application as Exhibits 1 and 2, respectively, upon Respondent Chicago State University (“CSU”).

She declared: “It is a matter of public record that Applicant is a prominent businessman and politician in Nigeria. Applicant served as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. He won a contested primary to become the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Nigeria’s principal opposition party, during the 2019 presidential election.

“He was again the presidential candidate of Nigeria’s principal opposition party (the People’s Democratic Party, or “PDP”) in elections held in February 2023. The conduct and results of the elections in which Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared the winner and Applicant was declared the runner-up are currently the subject of legal proceedings in the Nigerian courts (the “Nigerian proceedings”), which include proceedings brought by Applicant.

“Upon information and belief, Respondent CSU is a public university established and existing under the laws of Illinois, with its principal campus and offices in Chicago. See 110 ILCS 660; see also https://www.csu.edu.

“Both before and after the election, litigants commenced proceedings in the Nigerian courts challenging various aspects of the electoral processes and, later, the election results.

“Three of these proceedings are relevant to this Application: (1) proceedings commenced in November 2022, by Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah against Mr. Tinubu (“Enahoro-Ebah v. Tinubu”); (2) Applicant’s lawsuit, Abubakar et al. v. INEC, et al., which was commenced in March 2023; and (3) Peter Obi and Labour Party v. INEC, Tinubu et al., in the Court of Appeal at Abuja, CA/PEPC/03/2023, which commenced in March 2023.

“Attached hereto as Exhibit A is the Complaint in Enahoro-Ebah v. Tinubu, and attached hereto as Exhibit B is the Complaint in Abubakar, et al. v. INEC et al. CSU is not a party to these proceedings.”

She added, “Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a copy of a diploma purporting to have been issued to Mr. Tinubu by CSU on June 22, 1979.

“Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a copy of a document purporting to be a September 22, 2022, letter from the Registrar of CSU to Matthew J. Kowals, Esq.”