The Critical Areas In Tinubu’s Chicago State University Academic Records That Atiku Hit A Brick Wall (PHOTOS)

The Critical Areas In Tinubu’s Chicago State University Academic Records That Atiku Hit A Brick Wall (PHOTOS)

Politics can be a rough arena. In Atiku Abubakar’s most imaginative scenarios, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for the 2023 election, along with his associates, might have painted President Bola Tinubu as a shape-shifting, enigmatic figure — perhaps a transgender, a hermaphrodite, or even a cross-dresser.

They might have labeled him an astute document forger, a major deceiver, or a conniving crook, or perhaps all of the above combined.

Atiku pushed hard for the US court to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to unveil Tinubu’s educational records and certificate. When the court sided with Atiku, he and his team erupted in jubilation.

Read Also Atiku Currently Speechless As Chicago University Releases Tinubu’s Records, Authenticates Certificate

Yet, Chicago State University (CSU) has now brought the fervor down a notch, providing Tinubu’s academic records and ultimately disappointing Atiku in crucial aspects.

Sample of diploma issued in 2003

“The documents responsive to this request which CSU, after diligent search, has been able to locate are produced herewith and Bates labelled CSU 0008 through CSU 0010. The students’ names on these diplomas have been redacted for privacy reasons. CSU is also producing, Bates labelled as CSU 0011 and 0012, diplomas produced for other CSU students (with their names redacted for privacy) which match the format of the Tinubu replacement dated June 27, 1997,” the university wrote. What is more, the university released samples of diplomas (certificates) awarded in 1979 to other students were released by the university as demanded by Atiku.

What Tinubu submitted to INEC in 2023

Atiku’s urgency in seeking court intervention to have CSU release the contested diploma stemmed from Tinubu’s prior assertion that he had “misplaced his original certificates but provided a replacement for his CSU diploma to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 presidential election.”

Another significant factor was the social media speculation that intensified Atiku’s determination. This speculation suggested that Tinubu was initially admitted to the university as a woman and later underwent a gender transformation to become a man. Some of the transcripts circulating online even indicated the gender as “F”, indicating “female”. However, alongside the new documents (including an admission letter) released by CSU, Tinubu was consistently addressed as “Mr”, and he self-identified as “male” in the undergraduate admissions application form.

Regarding the discrepancy in the dates on the 1997 diploma samples released by CSU, even though they share the same font and logo as those submitted by Tinubu to INEC, CSU acknowledged the error in an affidavit, attributing it to a “clerical error.”

The controversy began on September 19, when US Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert granted Atiku’s request and directed CSU to provide Tinubu’s academic records within 24 hours. In response, Tinubu promptly filed an appeal against the order. However, Federal Judge Nancy Maldonado subsequently overruled Tinubu’s objections and “ordered CSU to release the president’s academic records.”

Another significant issue was Atiku’s request for the exact diploma that CSU issued to Tinubu in 1979. However, the university stated that it could not locate a copy of the original certificate prepared for Tinubu in that year.

Their response was as follows: “CSU does not typically retain copies of student diplomas, and after a thorough search, we are unable to locate a copy of the original diploma prepared for Mr. Tinubu in 1979, and therefore do not possess documents responsive to this request.”

To demonstrate that the president indeed graduated from their institution in the specified year, the university released redacted diplomas from other students, similar to Tinubu’s.