News & Announcements

The provisional pay raise promised by President Bola Tinubu for all low-income workers for six months would affect all employees paid by the Treasury, according to the Federal Government on Sunday.

After a four-hour long emergency meeting with the leaders of Organized Labor, the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, stated this to reporters from State House.

To avoid the planned nationwide, indefinite strike called by organized labor, a deal was achieved.

After hearing about the decisions from their state chapters and affiliates on Monday (today), the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress were expecting to postpone their strike that was set to start on Tuesday.

The meeting was held shortly after the President declared in his Independence Day broadcast that a provisional wage raise of N25,000 for a certain type of federal employees for the following six months had been approved.

Briefing journalists on the meeting outcome, Gbajabiamila said, “There was a lot of chatter on Twitter about the issue of low-income workers only falling into the category of the provisional wage increase. And we did communicate with the President and he quickly did say and agreed that all categories of workers will be given the wage bill. There is nothing like low income, median income or high income.”  ⁣

He expressed hope that the scheduled strike by the labor unions will be called off.

“Hopefully, we expect that Labour will call a meeting of their various branches and executive tomorrow to present the agreements that have been reached, and we pray and we believe and we hope that the strike will be called off on Tuesday,’’ he noted.⁣

He expressed optimism that the labour unions would backtrack on their planned strike.

“Hopefully, we expect that Labour will call a meeting of their various branches and executive tomorrow to present the agreements that have been reached, and we pray and we believe and we hope that the strike will be called off on Tuesday,’’ he noted.⁣

It was learned that labor leaders opposed Tinubu’s proposed N25,000 wage increase for low-grade workers.

They argued that it should last until a new minimum wage is adopted and opposed the government’s suggestion that the provisional hike span a six-month term.

Unconfirmed sources at the conference also said that the unions pushed on a reassessment of the pay hike to N30,000.

The Federal Government increased the wage award as a result, to N35,000.

However, the parties agreed that the points in disagreement could only be settled when workers were at work and not while they were on strike, according to a statement from the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris.

The statement read, ‘’Labour unions argued for higher wage award and the Federal Government team promised to present Labour’s request to President Bola Tinubu for further consideration.

“A sub-committee (is) to be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

“The lingering matter of the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria and National Union of Road Transport Workers in Lagos State needs to be addressed urgently and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who participated virtually, pledged to resolve the matter.

‘’NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government with a view to suspending the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above.’’

He added, “The Federal Government is committed to fast-tracking the provision of Compressed Natural Gas buses to ease public transportation difficulties associated with the removal of PMS subsidy.

“The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds for micro and small-scale enterprises. VAT on diesel will be waived for the next six months.

“The Federal Government will commence payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month, for a three-month period from October-December 2023.”

Speaking on behalf of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC President Joe Ajaero said the union would table the FG’s offer before its organs reach a resolution.

Ibrahim Musa, a member of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, generally known as Shiites, was freed by the Department of State Services 24 hours after he was caught and arrested.

On his route to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, he was allegedly detained at Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.

Abdullahi Usman, a member of the sect, made this announcement in a statement on Thursday night.

He said, “This is announcing to the general public that Mallam Ibrahim Musa, the Editor-in-chief of Almizan newspaper who was abducted by the DSS, has been released.

“Nigeria’s secret police whisked him away at the Aminu Kano International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday, September 27, 2023, while on his way to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser Hajj.

“The Almizan Editor was released on Thursday and his travel documents have been returned to him. He is presently fine and in a good state of health as he reunites with his family, friends and well-wishers.

“We wish to express our profound gratitude to all and sundry for their prayers and concern over his arrest and detention by the DSS. We say a big thank you to all, God bless you.”

According to President Bola Tinubu, he is aware of the suffering that Nigerians go through.

In his Sunday national broadcast, he made this claim and mentioned how hard his government is working to build a strong economic foundation for the nation.

In his statement honoring the nation’s 63rd Independence Day anniversary, Tinubu remembered that he demanded the elimination of the gasoline subsidy and other reforms during his May 29 inauguration as president.

Such measures, according to him, were required to set the country on the path to “prosperity and growth.”

“At my inauguration, I made important promises about how I would govern this great nation. Among those promises, were pledges to reshape and modernise our economy and to secure the lives, liberty, and property of the people.

“I said that bold reforms were necessary to place our nation on the path of prosperity and growth. On that occasion, I announced the end of the fuel subsidy,” he stated.

The President, while noting that reforms may be painful, assured that the nation is on its path to a future where “hunger, poverty, and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever-fading past.”

He continued by saying that the nation will eventually be in a situation where its bounty is “fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few.”

According to Tinubu, the Nigerian people must persevere in order to reach the positive aspects of “our future,” adding that the mass-borne burdens of today should be a thing of the past.

The President stated that his administration is making every effort within its power to implement measures that would reduce the stress on the general public.

The President stated that his administration is making every effort within its power to implement measures that would reduce the stress on the general public.

He said that his country’s direct fiscal and monetary policies were being implemented to combat inflation, promote economic growth, protect people’s lives and property, and provide more assistance to the weak and the destitute.

The President also said that a N25,000 temporary allowance for junior government employees will be approved over the course of the following six months.

In addition, he announced the creation of an infrastructure support fund, which would be used in part by state governments to provide aid to citizens affected by rising food and other prices.

The President also announced a plan to spread “cheaper, safer” compressed natural gas buses across the country. These buses will function at a fraction of the cost of current fuel, which will lower transportation costs.

The Federal Government has invited labor leaders to a further discussion today, October 1, at 2 PM, in an effort to avert the impending nationwide indefinite strike planned by labor organizations.

The State House in Abuja will host the emergency gathering.

Due to the lack of organized labor representatives, the government-Labour meeting scheduled for September 29 in the State House was called off.

The meeting was scheduled to take place in the Chief of Staff’s Conference Room at the State House, according to a memo written by the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, Emmanuel Igbinosun, on behalf of the Minister and addressed to the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress.

The statement read, “Further to my earlier correspondence on the above subject, I once again bring greetings from the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment.

“I am directed to invite the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for a meeting with the Government on the above subject scheduled as follows; Date:- Sunday, October 1st, 2023; Time:- 2 pm; Venue:- Aso Villa Conference Room of the office of the Chief of Staff to Mr President.

“Please be assured as always of the kind regards of the Hon. Minister of Labour & Employment.”

The national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress are anticipated to attend the gathering.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Honorable Simon Lalong, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Honorable Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and a number of other important government representatives are anticipated to attend the meeting on behalf of the government.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar has won the case before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the court has mandated that Chicago State University provide the former vice president with access to President Tinubu’s academic record by Monday, October 2.

In a copy of the ruling that PUNCH received on Sunday, Judge Nancy Maldonado observed that CSU had not objected to Judge Jeffery Gilbert’s ruling that the academic record should be made public.

The court stated that Atiku’s interest in the desired discovery outweighs any intrusion on Tinubu’s personal interests in his educational records.

Tinubu’s objections to Gilbert’s suggested decision were rejected by Maldonado, who then embraced the recommendation in its entirety.

The memorandum opinion and order read in part, “Atiku’s application is therefore granted. In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline. represented to the Court as October 5, 2023, and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the Court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery. Respondent CSU is directed to produce all relevant and non-privileged documents.

“The Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of CSU’s corporate designee must be completed by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Given the October 5, 2023, filing deadline before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Court will not extend or modify these deadlines.”

Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s nominee for president, has submitted a new application asking the US Court to reject President Bola Tinubu’s request to prevent Chicago State University from disclosing his (Tinubu’s) academic record.

According to The PUNCH, Atiku had already obtained an order from a US magistrate for CSU to provide Tinubu’s academic records to his legal team.

Last Monday, Tinubu’s alma mater was required by the magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, to deliver all pertinent, non-privileged documents to Atiku’s legal team within two days.

Atiku is currently contesting Tinubu’s declaration as the victor of the presidential election held on February 25.

The Nigerian Supreme Court is now hearing the case.

Tinubu’s record of entrance and acceptance at the Chicago State University, dates of attendance, as well as the degrees, accolades, and honors Tinubu received from the CSU, are among the documents requested by the PDP candidate through his attorney, Angela Liu.

However, when the magistrate’s deadline drew nearer, Tinubu’s attorneys petitioned the US high court, arguing that the magistrate’s earlier judgment needed to be reviewed by a district judge.

The US district court ultimately agreed to the request for a review and a postponement of the magistrate’s order until Monday.

Oluwole Afolabi, Tinubu’s attorney in New York, put up two arguments in his motion.

First, contrary to Atiku’s assertion, his academic credentials are not relevant to Nigerian courts since “the Nigerian election proceedings and the Nigerian courts have explicitly been unreceptive to the discovery.”

His second reason is that Atiku’s request “is unduly intrusive because it allows the applicant (Atiku) to conduct a fishing expedition into the intervenor’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.”

But Atiku, in a fresh response filed on Wednesday, in Chicago, Illinois, urged the court to overrule Tinubu’s request in its entirety.

Atiku’s counsel, Angela Liu, appealed that “If the court overrules the objections, the applicant respectfully requests that it enter an order requiring production of documents no later than October 2, 2023, and the deposition scheduled no later than October 3, to allow time for transcripts to be finalised, and the discovery obtained to be sent to Nigeria (which is six hours ahead) by October 4, so that such evidence may, in turn, be filed with the Supreme Court by October 5, which is when applicant’s Nigerian counsel intend to submit any new evidence to the Supreme Court.”

Atiku’s lawyer explained that contrary to Tinubu’s “inflated rhetoric”, he is not seeking “to conduct a fishing expedition into Tinubu’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.”

The former vice president stated that he wants to investigate the legitimacy and provenance of 12 pages of documents, including two quite different diplomas, that claim to be from Colorado State University.

According to Atiku, there are inconsistencies between the data in the CSU documents and the affidavit Tinubu provided to INEC.

“If, as the intervenor asserts, he graduated from CSU in 1979 and the CSU documents are authentic copies issued, there is no reason why he should oppose the limited discovery the applicant seeks.”

Atiku’s legal team argued that the fact that the Nigerian Electoral Act specifically allows for the submission of new evidence to the Supreme Court in exceptional circumstances demonstrates its receptivity to the evidence sought.

The former vice president clarified that is not seeking the disclosure of Tinubu’s educational documents; he is seeking to authenticate documents that are already in the public record, adding that “Judge Gilbert’s Order may only be reviewed for clear error, even if the Court determines to the objections should nonetheless be overruled in their entirety.”

The petition presented before the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal by the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, contesting the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwor, was dismissed on Friday for lack of merit.

In its ruling, the three-member tribunal panel led by Justice C.H. Ahuchaogu confirmed that Oborevwori had won the state’s governor election on March 18, 2023.

The tribunal determined that the petitioners had not established their claims of corrupt practices and noncompliance with the Electoral Act beyond a reasonable doubt.

Vice President Kashim Shettima’s National Economic Council (NEC) urged Organized Labor to postpone the planned indefinite nationwide strike scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, gave a briefing to State House reporters after the NEC meeting at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He said that the Council had requested labor leaders to resume negotiations at the state level.

According to Mutfwang, Council believed that keeping the debate going would be better for the economy, particularly at the state level.

“Council noted the notice by the national leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress to proceed on an indefinite strike from October 3, 2023.

‘’The Council noted further the implication of this strike for the economy and the nation and thus urged members to continue to engage with the leadership of their respective states and to appeal to them to shelve the action and continue on the path of dialogue with the federal government. This is the appeal of Council,” the governor said.

The governor detailed the position of most of the states when the various governors left on May 29, outlining the reasons for NEC’s plea and noting that several of them had just ended protracted industrial strikes.

He claims that implementing a fresh strike at this time will hurt the economy even more.

Despite the fact that there were feelers indicating that leadership at every level sincerely wanted the issues presented by labor handled once and for all, he pleaded for additional time for the government to work on addressing their concerns.

The governor said: “NEC actually expressed genuine concern on the situation in the country and appreciates the concern by Labour to have those issues addressed. That is why NEC is appealing for patience, appealing for time to be able to address the concerns of Labour. We also believe that Mr. President will be addressing the nation first of October and some of the concerns of Labour will be appropriately addressed in the President’s speech.

“It is, therefore, important that… it’s a federation, so whatever happens Labour is represented in all the 36 states and the FCT and NEC is appealing that discussions should continue at the state levels because there will be peculiarities as to the issues to be addressed concerning the demands of Labour, therefore dialogue is the way to go.

“The nation is at a very critical moment at this time, some of the states, when they took over on May 29, the workers were on strike, some of those issues have just been resolved for the workers to return to work. To ask them to go back immediately, it’s going to further damage the economy.

“Therefore, NEC, while expressing genuine concern about the situation in the country, appeals for calm and patience and I want to believe that the leadership across the nation at this point in time wants to truly address the issues that concern labour and the general populace and move the country forward.’’

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) were asked by the Federal Government yesterday to postpone their planned nationwide indefinite strike beginning on October 3. The Federal Government claimed that by going ahead with the proposed industrial action, they would be flagrantly violating an active court injunction.

The National Economic Council, NEC, also yesterday appealed to the labour unions not to embark on the indefinite strike, asking both the Federal Government and labour to continue negotiations at the state level.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, directed its members, including the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, Petrol Stations Workers, PSW, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers, LPGAR, and all other allied workers in the value chain of petroleum products distribution, to comply with the strike directive on the day the NLC insisted on the strike’s continuation.

Earlier yesterday, the NLC insisted that no agreement had been reached with the Federal Government to put a halt to the intended indefinite strike, even as it claimed that no meeting with the government had been set.

The National Industrial Court, or NIC, is now hearing cases involving fuel subsidy elimination, according to the government, which is what led the NLC and the TUC to decide to call the strike.

The government wrote to the head of the legal teams for the two unions, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, requesting that he urge his clients to call off the planned strike. The government did this through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.

The letter, dated September 26, read: “The attention of the Ministry has been drawn to media reports on the proposed nationwide strike action by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, scheduled to commence on October 3, 2023.

“You are kindly invited to recall the antecedence of previous steps/actions on this matter, particularly the exchange of correspondence between this office and your firm, before and after the nationwide “action/protest” declared by the NLC on August 2, 2023.

“Whilst your clients had maintained that the nationwide protest by NLC is in furtherance of its constitutional right to embark on protests, the ministry has repeatedly advised on the need to advise your clients to refrain from resorting to self-help and taking actions capable of undermining subsisting orders of a court of competent jurisdiction.

“It is also to be recalled that based on the conduct of the said nationwide action/protest, this office instituted contempt proceedings against the labour leaders.

“However, upon the intervention of the President and National Assembly, coupled with the decision of the labour unions to discontinue their action/protest, the contempt proceedings were not prosecuted further.

“This was advisedly done to enable the government and labour unions engage in further negotiations without any form of encumbrances.

“However, in its communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting on August 31, 2023, NLC resolved to embark on a total and indefinite shutdown of the nation within 14 working days or 21 days from 31st August 2023.

“Also on September 26, 2023, the Presidents of NLC and TUC, jointly issued a communiqué stating that organised labour had resolved, ‘to embark on an indefinite and total shutdown of the nation beginning on zero hours Tuesday, the 3rd day of October, 2023.’

“From a review of the contents of the above communiqués and available media reports, the proposed strike action is premised principally in furtherance of issues connected with the removal of fuel subsidy, hike in fuel price and consequential matters of making provisions for palliatives and workers welfare.

“These are undoubtedly issues that have been submitted to the National Industrial Court for adjudication.

‘’Therefore, the proposed strike is in clear violation of the pending interim injunctive order granted on June 5, 2023, restraining both Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress from embarking on any industrial action/or strike of any nature, pending the hearing and determination of the pending Motion on Notice.

“We wish to reiterate that a court order, regardless of the opinion of any party on it, remains binding and enforceable until set aside.

“It is the expectation of the public that the labour unions would lead in obedience and observance of court orders and not in its breach.

“It is therefore the earnest expectation of this Office that your distinguished law firm will advise the labour unions on the need to protect the integrity of courts and observe the sanctity of court orders.

“Consequently, you are kindly requested to impress it upon the organized labour unions to note the fact that their proposed strike action is in gross breach of the subsisting court order, as well as the appropriateness of addressing their grievances/demands within the ambit of the law.

“Hence, the need for them to be more accommodating and show greater appreciation of the effect of the order of the court, by shelving the strike action.

“The foregoing will afford parties more room for further mutual engagements, for a holistic and sustainable resolution of all outstanding issues on this matter in the overall national interest.”

The Minister of Labor and Employment, the President’s Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of State Security Services were among those who received a copy of the letter.

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, intensified his legal efforts to block the Chicago State University from releasing his academic records to his rival presidential candidate during the last election, Atiku Abubakar.

After obtaining a reprieve from the District Court of Northern Illinois, Eastern Division, with the court temporarily suspending its 20 September order compelling the university to release the documents to Atiku, President Tinubu has now filed a more detailed objection seeking to convince the court to reverse the order outright.

Tinubu’s application, filed by his New York-based lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi, is anchored on two broad reasons.

First is that his academic records in issue are not useful in Nigerian courts as claimed by Atiku because “the Nigerian election proceedings and the Nigerian courts have explicitly been unreceptive to the discovery.”

Tinubu’s second reason is that Atiku’s request “is unduly intrusive because it allows Applicant (Atiku) to conduct a fishing expedition into Intervenor’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.”

He urged the court to set aside the previous order, saying his political opponents had previously used his illegally obtained academic records to attack him.

“The unlawful release of documents previously allowed Intervenor’s opponents to sow confusion and spread conspiracy theories,” Tinubu’s objection read in part.

It added that Atiku’s application was not anything more than “opposition research on a political opponent”.

Atiku had set off the legal battle with an application filed on 2 August requesting the court to order the Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records to him.

The former Nigerian vice president requested the documents in the hope of using them at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja to challenge the authenticity of the certificate presented by Tinubu to Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, for the 2023 election.

He argued that among other things, a “second Chicago State University diploma has since emerged (dated June 27, 1979) that bears the name “Bola Ahmed Tinubu” but also presents with a different font, punctuation, seal, and signatures, than the June 22, 1979 diploma, among other alleged discrepancies.”

Atiku told the US court that he wanted to authenticate these documents whether a “Chicago State University diploma in the name of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated June 22, 1979, that was submitted to the INEC before the Nigerian presidential election in February 2023 is genuine or was forged.”

On 19 September, a magistrate judge of the court, Jeffrey Gilbert, ordered the university to release the requested documents to Atiku within two days.

Tinubu’s legal team swiftly approached a district judge of the court to suspend the order to enable them to file a more elaborate challenge against it.

At an emergency hearing on 21 September, the district judge, Nancy Maldonado, agreed to delay the order compelling the Chicago State University to release the academic documents of President Tinubu.

Following the approval, Tinubu, through his legal team, filed his objection on Monday.

In the objection filed on Monday, Tinubu’s legal team argued that the magistrate judge granted Atiku’s application even though the applicant was barred from attempting to use the discovery in the foreign proceeding.

“That conclusion should be rejected because the discovery cannot be ‘for use’ in the foreign proceeding due to the decision of the Nigerian Election Court, and that decision shows the Nigerian courts would not be receptive to the discovery sought by the application.

“The Magistrate gave no weight to the decision of the Nigerian Election Court, which is authoritative proof of the unreceptivity of the foreign court to the discovery sought,” the objection read in part.

It added that the possibility that the Nigerian Supreme Court, where Atiku proceeded to challenge the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court, may accept the documents was a mere speculation and not “not an indication that foreign courts might consider the discovery.”

In the other plank of objection, Tinubu’s team argued that while Atiku’s case at the Nigerian court only touched on “a CSU diploma”, the magistrate judge “erroneously concluded” to issue an order for the release of “other educational documents.”

They said the court erroneously held that “a foray into other documents” was permissible because “Intervenor also submitted other educational documents in a related proceeding in Nigeria.”

The objection added: “The Magistrate erred in requiring compliance with two subpoenas that go far beyond the narrow issue of the diploma submitted to the INEC, and finding that the education records protections were overcome by Applicant’s investigatory interests.

“The Magistrate determined that the Applicant’s interest outweighed the privacy interest because the Intervenor put the diploma at issue by submitting it to the INEC.

The Magistrate also concluded the Applicant’s interests were stronger as to ‘other educational documents’ submitted in related proceedings.

This second conclusion is clearly erroneous because the ‘other documents’ are not at issue in the electoral challenge, and discovery for “related proceedings” is merely another way of describing a fishing expedition.

Tinubu argued that he stood to suffer harm in allowing discovery on issues and documents outside the diploma because his records “were illegally obtained previously and have been utilised to attack him”.

He added: “Obtaining more documents via a subpoena – particularly ones that are not part of the INEC submission by Intervenor – is both improper and nonsensical.

“The unlawful release of documents previously allowed Intervenor’s opponents to sow confusion and spread conspiracy theories. Applicant should not be permitted to conduct discovery on the discovery illegally obtained by Applicant’s allies and Intervenor’s political opponents. Discovery on discovery is rarely appropriate and is certainly not appropriate when the sole issue Applicant identified is the Intervenor’s submission of his diploma to INEC.

“Nor does the fact that Intervenor’s educational records have been spread into court records justify discovery. Section 1782 does not authorise fishing expeditions to satisfy curiosity or resolve public controversy.”

In conclusion, Tinubu said the Chicago State University had already been established as the most critical by stating that he was awarded the degree as he stated.

“This point is irrelevant to Applicant because he is not seeking anything more than opposition research on a political opponent. The Magistrate Judge clearly erred in granting the application for discovery and concluding that Chicago State University must respond to the document and deposition subpoenas.

He urged the court to set aside the conclusion of the magistrate judge and reverse his order “because the information sought cannot be used and therefore is not “for use” in the foreign proceedings.

Atiku had, in his application, argued that among other things, a “second Chicago State University diploma has since emerged (dated June 27, 1979) that bears the name “Bola Ahmed Tinubu” but also presents with a different font, punctuation, seal, and signatures, than the June 22, 1979 diploma, among other alleged discrepancies.”

Atiku told the US that he wanted to authenticate these documents whether a “Chicago State University diploma in the name of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated June 22, 1979, that was submitted to the INEC before the Nigerian presidential election in February 2023 is genuine or was forged.”

Atiku added that “under Nigerian law, the submission of a fraudulent document to the INEC would have disqualified President Tinubu from participating in the election.”

When Atiku filed his application in the US district court on 2 August, his petition challenging the presidential election was pending before the Nigerian Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Therefore, Atiku said his application in the US court was to obtain discoveries that would support his petitions in the Nigerian court of appeal.

Court documents show that a day after Atiku’s application was filed, President Tinubu filed a motion to join in the suit. The judge granted the motion to intervene on 7 August.