Tinubu, APC, INEC oppose Atiku’s bid to amend certificate forgery suit

By Johnson Arua

President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have opposed a bid by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to amend their suit alleging certificate forgery against the President.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Iyang Ekwo, on Tuesday fixed November 20 to rule on the plaintiffs’ application seeking permission to amend their originating summons in the suit challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku and the ADC, through their lawyer, Mr Silas Onu, are seeking to correct the name of the INEC nomination form allegedly used to submit the disputed certificates, which they said was wrongly identified as Form CF0001 instead of Form EC9.

However, Tinubu, through his team of lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that it was statute-barred and constituted an abuse of court process.

The President maintained that the statutory period for instituting the pre-election action had expired, leaving the court without jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

He further accused the plaintiffs of attempting to use the proposed amendment as a means of introducing a fresh action against him.

The APC, represented by Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, also opposed the application, drawing the court’s attention to a counter-affidavit it filed on September 12 challenging the proposed amendment.

Similarly, INEC, through its counsel, Dr Alex Iziyon, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the application filed on September 8.

In a counter-affidavit deposed to by Ayuba Mohammed, an administrative officer in its Litigation and Prosecution Department, the commission argued that the suit lacked merit and disclosed no reasonable cause of action.

INEC also challenged Atiku’s legal standing to institute the action, maintaining that the issues raised by the plaintiffs were hypothetical and academic.

The electoral commission, however, did not address the authenticity of Tinubu’s educational credentials. It argued that, as the electoral umpire, it neither nominates candidates for political parties nor originates, manufactures or procures the personal certificates and credentials submitted by candidates or their sponsoring parties.

Atiku, in a 25-paragraph affidavit personally deposed to in support of the suit, alleged that Tinubu submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, discharge certificate to INEC in support of his qualification to contest the presidential election.

He alleged that the certificate bore the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle,” which, according to him, was not the President’s name.

Atiku averred: “I know that the NYSC certificate is clearly not one obtained by the 1st defendant, as it belongs to one Adekunle.

“The said NYSC certificate, bearing the name Tinubu Bola Adekunle, is herein attached and marked as Exhibit P2.

“I know that the said NYSC certificate is still in existence and in the custody of the 3rd defendant (INEC), and that it is a forgery, as the 1st defendant’s name is not Adekunle, and yet he submitted it to the 3rd defendant to be acted upon as genuine.”

The former Vice President further alleged that Tinubu had been parading the disputed certificate since 1999, when he contested the Lagos State governorship election.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, Atiku and the ADC are asking the court to determine whether the plaintiffs can enforce the constitutional provisions on disqualification over alleged certificate forgery, despite the limitations prescribed by the Electoral Act, 2026, and the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Specifically, they want the court to determine whether Tinubu and the APC should be disqualified from participating in the 2027 presidential election over the alleged submission of a forged NYSC certificate to INEC.

The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that Tinubu breached Section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution by allegedly presenting a forged certificate to INEC when he contested the Lagos governorship election in 1999.

They further seek an order disqualifying Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election on the same grounds.

The allegations remain before the court, which is yet to determine the substantive suit.