Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to allow them to amend their suit seeking the disqualification of President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the 2027 presidential election.
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The case, which also has the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as a defendant, is based on allegations surrounding the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, discharge certificate said to have been submitted to the electoral commission.
Atiku and the ADC are challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 election and are asking the court to grant their request after reviewing the documents filed in the case.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, is before Justice Inyang Ekwo. In a motion filed before the judge, the plaintiffs requested permission to make changes to their originating summons and have the amended documents accepted as properly filed.
The request followed the discovery of errors in the names used to describe some INEC forms attached to their affidavit. The plaintiffs said some of the documents were identified as Form CF001 when they should have been referred to as Form EC9A.
Atiku and the ADC also want to provide more details about the alleged fraud contained in their case. They are seeking to include Atiku’s written deposition and present clearer copies of some of the exhibits relied upon in the suit.
Tinubu and the APC have opposed the case and asked the court to dismiss it. They argued that the suit is legally defective and that Atiku and the ADC do not have the required legal standing to bring the action.
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In a joint counter-affidavit filed on September 9, the President and APC denied submitting any forged certificate to INEC in connection with either the 2023 or 2027 presidential elections.
They also denied using Form CF001 for either election, as alleged by the plaintiffs. The defendants further stated that the NYSC had not disowned the discharge certificate attributed to Tinubu.
In their written address, Tinubu and the APC argued that allegations of forgery are criminal matters and must be established to the required standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Their lawyer, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, said the institution alleged to have issued the disputed certificate would need to provide evidence before a claim of forgery could be established.
Olujinmi argued that Atiku and the ADC had not presented any evidence from the NYSC rejecting or denying the issuance of the certificate to Tinubu.
He therefore asked the court to dismiss the case, maintaining that the plaintiffs had not provided sufficient legal or evidential grounds for their claims.
Justice Ekwo has fixed September 28 for the hearing of the case, when the court is expected to consider the issues raised by both sides.
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