He temporarily stayed execution of an earlier order after the president’s plea that it will cause ‘severe and irreparable harm’ to him.certificate to INEC that was purportedly issued in 1979 and signed by Elnora Daniel. But Ms Daniel only arrived at CSU in 1998 from Hampton University, 19 years after Mr Tinubu was said to have graduated.
She left the school in 2008 following a financial mismanagement scandal, or 14 years before June 2022 when CSU issued yet a fresh certificate in Tinubu’s name under subpoena from a Nigerian lawyer, who had inquired about Tinubu’s education there.
The irregularities prompted Atiku to file the suit to compel CSU to produce records relating to Tinubu and make its top officials available for deposition to certify the produced records, according to the Nigerian opposition leader’s lawyers.
During a hearing on the matter on September 12, the CSU’s lawyer Michael Hayes, said the school could not authenticate Tinubu’s certificate if asked under oath, although he said Tinubu attended the school and graduated in 1979.
Tinubu’s lawyers, led by Christopher Carmichael, argued that the court should not grant Atiku’s application, because it was a frivolous expedition aimed at soiling the Nigerian president’s image.
Carmichael also argued that Nigerian Supreme Court would not accept fresh evidence that was not produced during the tribunal proceeding.
But Atiku’s team, led by Angela Liu, argued that the Supreme Court would accommodate the fresh facts under unique circumstances, especially as they were not available to the Court of Appeal, which was the court of first instance in a presidential election dispute.
In his ruling, therefore, Gilbert held that courts across the U.S have traditionally taken a broad and liberal view in granting applications under Section 1782, a statute that allows the release of documents and evidence domiciled in the U.S. to be obtained and used in a foreign proceeding.
Meanwhile, the President Tinubu yesterday departed New York enroute Paris to Lagos after successfully participating in his first United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He held a series of engagements with world leaders, business leaders and Nigerians in diaspora.
By Lucky kenedy ose