The Chicago State University (CSU) has confirmed President Bola Tinubu attended the institution and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in Business and Administration.
The university made this known in a statement published by CBS News (CBS Broadcasting Inc.), one of America’s biggest and most influential news networks.
The institution said it was confident in the veracity and integrity of their records regarding Tinubu’s completion of graduation requirements and degree certificate, but was restrained by the United States’ federal law to provide any further information about Tinubu’s record, without consent or unless allowed to do so via court order.
The controversy surrounding Tinubu’s academic records took a new turn when the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Atiku Abubakar, filed a lawsuit in a US court.
At a hearing in Chicago, Atiku 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 ruled against the request.
Earlier reports shows that the election tribunal threw out Atiku Abubakar’s case against President Tinubu.
The statement from the Chicago State University on Tinubu as published by CBS reads: “As an educational institution, we are sometimes asked to provide information related to student records.
“Federal law known as FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protects the privacy of student records and limits what an institution can release.
“In August 2023, a request was made in U.S. federal court for the university to provide information related to educational records concerning Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, and a former CSU student.
“The university has confirmed Tinubu attended CSU and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree. Federal law, however, prevents us from providing any further information without consent or unless allowed to do so via court order.
“CSU is confident in the veracity and integrity of our records regarding Tinubu’s completion of graduation requirements and degree certificate.
“The university is not a party to the Nigerian legal proceedings that spurred this request, and a U.S. federal judge will determine whether the university will provide further requested information.
“Our response to the request for Tinubu’s academic records has been entirely consistent with our practices, policies and federal law. We would respond in exactly the same manner for any request for any student information by a third party.”
