Chicago State University confirms President Tinubu was its graduate

The Chicago State University (CSU) has again confirmed that Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, attended the university and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree.

The university disclosed this in a statement issued to CBS Broadcasting Inc. generally referred to as CBS News, one of America’s biggest and most influential news network.

It, however, pointed out that United States’ federal law, prevents it us from providing any further information about Tinubu’s record, without consent or unless allowed to do so via court order.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, had alleged that documents showing that Tinubu graduated from Chicago State in 1979, were not authentic, and had highlighted it as grounds to nullify Tinubu’s election victory.

The certificate was issued in 1979, and signed by university President Elnora Daniel. But Daniel didn’t arrive at CSU until 1998 and left about ten years later.

Submitting false records to the National Election Commission before the vote should nullify the election, Atiku had claims.

At a hearing in Chicago this week, Atiku’s lawyers had asked a federal judge to compel the CSU officials to turn over Tinubu’s academic documents and appear for depositions. Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois did not rule on the request.

CSU’s lawyer, Michael Hayes, told Gilbert that the university wouldn’t be able to certify Tinubu’s diploma under oath.

A CSU spokeswoman said the university could confirm the president graduated. However, it cannot authenticate the diploma because it was a ceremonial document and not part of a student’s official academic file.