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The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered that President Bola Tinubu be served within seven days with a suit filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seeking his disqualification from the 2027 presidential election over allegations concerning the certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the order on Wednesday after granting an application for substituted service of the originating processes on Tinubu through his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The application was moved by Atiku’s lawyer, Olanrewaju Omotayo-Ojo, who appeared on behalf of Silas Onu, said to be bereaved.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was filed by Atiku, a former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with the ADC joined as the second plaintiff.
Tinubu, the APC and INEC are listed as the first to third defendants respectively.
Atiku, in a 25-paragraph affidavit personally deposed to in support of the case, alleged that Tinubu submitted a purportedly forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to INEC in support of his qualification to contest the presidency.
He alleged that the certificate submitted to INEC bears the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle”, which, according to him, does not correspond with the President’s name.
Atiku asked the court to determine whether, under the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2026, Tinubu and the APC should be disqualified from participating in the 2027 presidential election over the alleged submission of the certificate.
Among the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs is an order disqualifying Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election on the basis of the allegations.
The suit also seeks declarations concerning the alleged certificate and its purported submission to INEC in connection with Tinubu’s previous and prospective presidential contests.
The court had earlier fixed September 28 for the commencement of substantive hearing in the case.
INEC has filed processes challenging the competence of the suit and urged the court to dismiss it.
Meanwhile, two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Akin Olujinmi and Chief Wole Olanipekun, have separately filed processes indicating their representation of Tinubu in the matter.
Olujinmi, in a counter-affidavit filed on Tinubu’s behalf, argued that the case was statute-barred, contending that the relevant documents were submitted to INEC before August 1 and that the statutory period for challenging them had expired.
He also questioned Atiku’s legal standing to challenge the documents submitted by Tinubu as the candidate of another political party.
Olanipekun similarly filed a preliminary objection and counter-affidavit seeking dismissal of the suit, describing it as incompetent and an abuse of court process.
In a September 10 letter to the court’s Deputy Chief Registrar, Olanipekun said he had been briefed by Tinubu to lead a team of lawyers defending his interests in the case.
He stated that Tinubu had not been personally served with the originating processes and requested copies of the documents to enable his legal team to respond.
The plaintiffs have also applied to amend portions of the suit, including correcting the name of the INEC form referred to in their pleadings from Form CF001 to Form EC9.
The case is expected to return to court on September 28 for further proceedings.
