Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president in 2023, has filed a separate lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu in the United States at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois with case number 23-5099 (N. D. III.).
Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, announced this in a statement on Sunday. He added that the development came as a result of the former vice president’s decision to drop a case pending before an Illinois circuit court.
He claimed that he found it amusing how Tinubu and his supporters were celebrating the development as if it were a Supreme Court decision.
He insisted that Tinubu’s academic records from elementary school through university were still in doubt, which is why the President was unable to name even one former classmate.
Shaibu remarked that Tinubu “fell from the sky,” noting the absence of any classmates.
“Waziri Atiku Abubakar only withdrew the case before a Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County, United States of America, because he is pursuing the same matter in a higher court and wanted to avoid abuse of court processes,” Shaibu explained. So, this is only the beginning.
“In the last week, Nigerians have been watching the ongoing ministerial screening at the Senate, where nominees have been forced to reveal their primary, secondary, and university histories.” Some of the ministerial nominees were even classmates of the senators who were screening them.
“However, the man who nominated them has no educational history. He has no primary school, secondary school, or university classmates. This is because he has no classmates. He actually fell from the sky.
” In recent years, past Presidents have invited their former classmates to Aso Rock Villa. Even President Muhammadu Buhari hosted his classmates from Katsina Middle School. But who did Bola Tinubu invite to the Presidential Villa? Governors from the 1999 set? This is a man whose entire life, background, and credentials remain unknown, and Atiku will ensure that the man is exposed.
“It is expected that the person to hold the Office of the President must be above board, especially in his life history.
“Unfortunately, here we have a president whose history is shrouded in secrecy and for whom it is as though life started in 1993.
“Even the year 1993, which presents the opening chapter of the recorded history of our president, is renowned for a documented indictment on narcotics trading.
“Now, this is 2023, and Atiku is asking to open the shady history of our president, and the same man is standing in the way of the truth about his past.
“That very obstruction to the innocent effort to unravel the president’s past means that the man has something to hide.
“It is shameful that the President’s supporters are joyful that their man is covering up his own past.”
“But as the saying goes: falsehood may run for a lifetime, but the truth shall overrun it in an instant.
“The moment of truth is here, and President Tinubu has no hiding place,” he added.
According to reports, the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County, United States of America, dismissed a lawsuit filed by Atiku, to get access to President Tinubu’s confidential educational records at Chicago State University.
Tinubu’s academic credentials and records have recently become a source of contention, particularly after a copy of a sworn affidavit in support of his presidential nomination form, which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), surfaced in the media.
Atiku had filed a lawsuit seeking to subpoena the university but was said to have withdrawn the case before the hearing date.
However, according to Circuit Court papers dated July 31, Judge Patrick J. Heneghan dismissed the case without prejudice.
“The petitioner’s subpoena in this case is withdrawn, and thus Chicago State University will not be deposed pursuant to the subpoena in this case,” the judge held in the judgement.
Justice Heneghan, ruling on the matter, said the case was dismissed without prejudice and resolved all matters pending before the court.
