Tinubu moves to quash Atiku’s petition at Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois

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By Lillian Okenwa

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a “Petition to Issue a Subpoena” at the Circuit Court of Cook County of Illinois, United States seeking to obtain records about the President of Nigeria’s educational history from Chicago State University.

The application filed at 3:01 PM on 11 July 2023 through his attorneys is “requesting the Court to issue a subpoena commanding a corporate representative of Respondent Chicago State University (“Respondent”) to appear for deposition upon oral examination on the topics” including:

1. Tinubu’s application for admission to the University.
2. The University’s acceptance of Tinubu as a student at the University.
3. Dates of attendance by Tinubu at the University as a student of the University.
4. Degrees, including awards and honors, attained by Tinubu from the University.
5. Courses taken by Tinubu at the University.
6. Location of University files relating to Tinubu.
7. Communications between the University and Tinubu or his representative inquiring about his attendance at the University, and more.

However, in a “Motion To Quash Subpoena, Petition, & For Sanction” filed at 2:20 PM on 19 July 2023, by one of President Bola Tinubu’s attorneys, Victor P. Henderson pointed out that “the subpoena is presumptively invalid for providing less than 14 days for compliance”, and that the “Petitioner is engaged in an improper fishing expedition about a foreign public official utilizing the Illinois Court’s subpoena power.”

He also urged the court to impose heavy sanctions on Atiku’s lawyer.

“Counsel should be sanctioned in an amount sufficient to deter such conduct and compensate for the costs incurred to respond to the petition and subpoena.”

Atiku’s prayers through his lawyer Angela M. Liu are:

l. That nonparty Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently the President of Nigeria and is facing various court proceedings concerning his election and the authenticity of documents relating to his attendance at Chicago State University.

• That Mr. Tinubu has previously asserted that he attended various educational institutions located in the Chicago area, including but not limited to Chicago State University.
• To test the truth and veracity of Mr. Tinubu’s assertions, Petitioner must depose a corporate representative of Respondent Chicago State University (“Respondent”) regarding educational records, or lack thereof, from Respondent.

• Respondent has taken the position that pursuant to federal statute 20 U.S.C. § 12329 and 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(9)(i), educational institutions cannot release personal identifying information from education records to the Petitioner without issuance of a subpoena.

• To identify and determine if Mr. Tinubu attended the above-mentioned institution, Petitioner needs deposition testimony regarding the following information, as outlined in Exhibit A, including but not limited to admissions information pertaining to Mr. Tinubu, proof of enrollment and attendance of Mr. Tinubu, and any degrees Mr. Tinubu attained from the Respondent

Download the court documents