In response to requests by Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Chicago State University (CSU) has released the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.
This release comes after the US district court for the northern district of Illinois ordered CSU to make these records public.
Abubakar, in his third request, had sought the release of copies of Tinubu’s diplomas issued in 1997. In response, CSU stated that the certificates matched the format of the replacement diploma issued to Tinubu on June 27, 1997.
They produced these documents and explained that the students’ names were redacted for privacy reasons. Additionally, CSU provided diplomas awarded in 1979 to other students as requested by Abubakar.
Tinubu had previously claimed to have lost his original certificates but presented a replacement for his CSU diploma to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 presidential election.
In the documents released by CSU, Tinubu was addressed as “Mr” in what appears to be an admission letter.
The university also noted that Tinubu identified as “male” on his undergraduate admissions application form.
However, some transcripts circulating online indicated “F,” suggesting “female.” CSU explained this as a clerical error.
While the samples of diplomas issued in 1997 by CSU bear the same font and logo as what Tinubu submitted to INEC, there is a discrepancy in the date. CSU attributed this to a clerical error in its affidavit.
On September 19, US Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert granted Abubakar’s request and ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records within 24 hours. However, President Tinubu filed an appeal against this order to block it.
Federal Judge Nancy Maldonado subsequently overruled Tinubu’s objections, reaffirming the order for CSU to release the president’s academic records.
Despite CSU’s inability to locate a copy of the original 1979 diploma issued to Tinubu, the institution released redacted diplomas of other students, confirming that the president graduated from CSU in that year.
