Chicago University say Tinubu graduated in 1979
President Bola Tinubu received a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Administration from Chicago State University in 1979, according to a confirmation provided to CBS by the American news outlet.
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, filed a lawsuit in the US to compel CSU officials to turn over Tinubu’s academic records, sparking debate over Tinubu’s academic record.
Nevertheless, CSU told CBS that while it was confident in the accuracy and integrity of its records regarding Tinubu’s fulfillment of the requirements for graduation and the issuance of his degree certificate, it was prohibited by U.S. federal law from disclosing any additional information about Tinubu’s record without his consent or unless permitted to do so by court order.
In a statement to CBS on Thursday, Chicago State University said, “As an educational institution, we occasionally receive requests to release information pertaining to student records.
“The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal legislation, preserves the confidentiality of student records and places restrictions on what institutions can divulge.
Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria and a former student at CSU, was a subject of a request for information from the institution in August 2023 that was filed in U.S. federal court.
“The institution has verified Tinubu attended CSU and earned a bachelor’s degree there in 1979. However, federal law forbids us from disclosing any more details without your permission or unless permitted by a court order.
“CSU is certain of the accuracy and reliability of our records regarding Tinubu’s fulfillment of the requirements for graduation and the awarding of a degree,” it says.
“A U.S. federal judge will decide whether the institution will furnish the further material requested, and the university is not a party to the Nigerian legal procedures that led to this request.
“We responded to the request for Tinubu’s academic records in a way that was totally compliant with federal law, our practices, and our standards. If a third party made a request for any student information, we would respond in exactly the same way.
