As opinions continue to swirl around the order of US District Court Judge, Nancy Maldonado, that the Chicago State University (CSU) should release President Bola Tinubu’s records to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a US-based international human rights lawyer and Nigerian pro-democracy advocate, Emmanuel Ogebe, has described it as a disgrace to Nigeria’s independence.
Ogebe, son of a retired Supreme Court Justice, whose advocacy led to the naming of Kudirat corner by Nigeria house in New York, said the order is a proof of “how things work in really independent countries.”
Judge Maldonado, on Saturday, ruled against Tinubu’s objection pleading that the release of his Chicago State University (CSU) records would cause him severe and irreparable harm.
In the short ruling, she gave CSU a deadline of Monday, October 2, to release Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku.
Judge Nancy Maldonado’s ruling
The Judge warned that any request for stay of the judgement from Tinubu to her court would be denied. She, however, said he is free to appeal her ruling at the Seventh Circuit Court.
Ogebe, in a statement sent to TheNiche, said the fact that Tinubu had “escaped justice in Nigeria since 1999 on his serial falsehoods and forgeries is a damning indictment on the chronic dysfunction and failure of our legal system.”
Welcoming the judgement of Judge Maldonado, Ogebe said it is “an ‘independence’ day gift to Nigerians who yearn for good governance outside the hands of corrupt and criminal elements.”
The statement reads: “I welcome the recently delivered judgment of the US District Court ordering the release of Tinubu’s records by tomorrow.
“This is how things work in really independent countries. Courts are not coercive instruments of colonial mentality, the politically connected or the powerful. If they could indict their immediate past president on 91 counts and jail three successive governors of Illinois then you know they’re serious.
“The fact that Tinubu escaped justice in Nigeria since 1999 (24 years) on his serial falsehoods and forgeries is a damning indictment on the chronic dysfunction and failure of our legal system. How ironic it occurred on our faux Independence Day.
“The truth is that a mafiosi who kidnapped Lagos State and its 20 million inhabitants has managed to kidnap Nigeria and it’s 200 million citizens. Nigeria is anything but independent. Even the British won’t dare to do the brazen things people are getting away with in Nigeria today.
“Once again, a foreign court is coming to Nigeria’s rescue – ironically the same court whose judgment 30 years ago gave us an early warning on the nature of character we were dealing with. This time around, we shall see if our legal system will yet again fail our democracy, constitution, citizenry and posterity. When our systems get it right, we will not be subjected to such global embarrassment.
“It should be noted that 75% of Tinubu’s academic claims have been disproven as bogus by Tinubu himself in two contradictory INEC forms. CSU is the last one. He should happily allow the records release to prove he is not a total fraud.
“Similarly that the court gave a Monday 2nd October 2023 deadline warning that any request for stay of this judgement from Tinubu will be denied shows how abuse of court process is not tolerated.
“Note that this is a US Federal District court, the equivalent of our Federal High Court saying they will NOT stay their own judgment for Tinubu’s sake. Nigerian courts should begin to desist from allowing losing parties to stop their own judgments and let appellate courts decide on stays.
“Finally, this is an “independence” day gift to Nigerians who yearn for good governance outside the hands of corrupt and criminal elements.”
