Judge Nancy L. Maldonado of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, stayed action on the order by Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert for the Chicago State University (CSU), to release President Bola Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku Abubakar.
Judge Gilbert, sitting at the US District Court of Northern Illinois, had ordered the CSU to release all relevant academic records pertaining to the Nigerian president, Tinubu’s admission at the university to Atiku within two days.
But Tinubu had appealed against Judge Gilbert’s ruling, and at an emergency hearing of the appeal on Thursday, Judge Maldonado stayed action of the order.
She told the lawyer representing the school, “You may not produce anything today, I’m not gonna rush anything now.”
The federal court in Chicago, while ruling on the civil case filed by Atiku, on Tuesday granted the applicant’s request to the court, stating that former Nigeria’s vice-president had been able to sufficiently satisfy the purpose for seeking the records.
In the judgement documents seen by SaharaReporters on Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey Gilbert also ordered a deposition of designated CSU officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.
However, as the school prepared to surrender the papers, Tinubu filed an emergency motion in the district, requesting a higher judge to reconsider Mr. Gilbert’s September 19 ruling and postpone the execution until at least September 25, according to People’s Gazette.