2027: Court Orders Substituted Service of Atiku’s Suit on Tinubu
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 challenging his eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election. Justice Inyang Ekwo approved substituted service through Tinubu’s political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), following a motion by Atiku’s lawyer, Olanrewaju Omotayo-Ojo. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was filed by Atiku, with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) joined as the second plaintiff, while Tinubu, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are listed as defendants. In an affidavit personally sworn by Atiku, he alleged that Tinubu submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate to INEC in support of his presidential qualification. Atiku claimed the certificate bears the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle” and belongs to another person identified as Adekunle. He further alleged that the document had been presented since 1999, when Tinubu contested the Lagos State governorship election. The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the alleged submission breached constitutional provisions and whether Tinubu and the APC should be disqualified from the 2027 presidential election.
The court had earlier fixed September 28 for the hearing of the case, while INEC has filed processes challenging the competence of the suit and seeking its dismissal. Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Akin Olujinmi and Chief Wole Olanipekun, have also filed separate processes concerning Tinubu’s defence. Olujinmi argued that the suit is statute-barred, claiming that the certificates were submitted before August 1 and that the 14-day period allowed for such litigation had expired. He also questioned Atiku’s legal standing to challenge documents submitted by an APC candidate. Olanipekun, who identified himself as Tinubu’s lawyer, also asked the court to dismiss the case, describing it as incompetent and an abuse of court process. He said Tinubu had instructed him to lead a legal team but had not been served with the originating processes, and requested copies to enable the defence to respond. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs have applied to amend the suit to correct the reference to the INEC form attached to the alleged certificate from Form CF001 to Form EC9. The allegations and legal objections remain subject to determination by the court at the scheduled hearing.
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