2027: Court gives Atiku 7 days to serve suit challenging Tinubu’s eligibility on APC

 The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday issued
an order for President Bola Tinubu to be served, within seven days, with the
suit seeking to stop him from contesting the 2027 presidential election over
his alleged submission of forged certificates to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo,
approved substituted service of the legal process on President Tinubu through
his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Justice Ekwo made the order after hearing a motion moved by
Atiku’s lawyer, Mr. Olanrewaju Omotayo-Ojo, who stood in for Mr. Silas Onu,
said to be bereaved.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was brought before
the court by a former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African
Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

While the ADC was joined as the 2nd plaintiff, President
Tinubu, the APC, and INEC were listed as the 1st to 3rd defendants,
respectively.

Specifically, Atiku, in a 25-paragraph affidavit he
personally deposed to in support of the suit, alleged that President Tinubu
submitted a bogus National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to
INEC in support of his qualification for the presidential seat.

Insisting that President Tinubu gave false information about
himself in the Form CF0001 he submitted to INEC, the plaintiffs drew the
court’s attention to the fact that the NYSC certificate he submitted to the
electoral body bears the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle.”

“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,” Atiku averred.

He told the court that Tinubu had been parading the forged
certificate since 1999, when he contested the Lagos State governorship
election.

Atiku therefore urged the court, among others, to determine:
“Whether, in view of the limitations in section 138(1)(a) & (b) of the
Electoral Act, 2026, and section 285(14)(c) of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), the Plaintiffs will not be allowed to
enforce the binding provision of section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), which applies, mutatis
mutandis, to all candidates aspiring to the office of President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”

As well as: “Whether the 1st and 2nd Defendants should be
disqualified for presenting a forged NYSC certificate to the 3rd Defendant for
the 2023 and 2027 Presidential Elections, in breach of section 137(1)(j) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended).”

Upon a positive determination of the legal questions, the
plaintiffs sought a “declaration that the 1st Defendant presented a forged
certificate to the 3rd Defendant when he contested for Governor of Lagos State
in 1999, and thereby breached the provision of section 137(1)(j) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended).”

Likewise: “An order disqualifying the 1st and 2nd Defendants
from participating in the 2027 Presidential Election, for presenting a forged
certificate to the 3rd Defendant when the 1st Defendant contested for Governor
of Lagos State in 1999.”

The court had earlier slated September 28 to commence
full-blown hearing of the case.

The INEC has since filed processes challenging the
competence of the suit, which it urged the court to dismiss.

However, it appears two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs)
may be on a collision course over who was briefed to represent President Tinubu
in the matter.

Even though the plaintiffs had insisted on effecting
personal service of the suit on President Tinubu, a former Attorney General of
the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, and a former
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN,
have separately filed processes for the 1st defendant.

The two senior lawyers separately challenged the competence
of the suit and Atiku’s locus standi (legal right) to query the credentials
Tinubu submitted to INEC, citing provisions of Section 29(5) of the Electoral
Act 2026.

In a counter-affidavit filed on Tinubu’s behalf, Chief
Olujinmi, SAN, contended that Atiku’s case had become statute-barred, noting
that the certificates were submitted to INEC before August 1 and the 14-day
period allowed for such litigation had elapsed.

Besides, he argued that Atiku, being a member of the ADC,
has no legal right to challenge what was done by the APC.

Likewise, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, who also identified himself
as Tinubu’s lawyer, filed both a preliminary objection and a counter-affidavit
seeking dismissal of the suit, which he maintained is incompetent and a gross
abuse of court process.

In a letter dated September 10, addressed to the Deputy
Chief Registrar of the court, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, said he had been briefed
by President Tinubu to lead a team of counsel to represent and defend his
interests in the matter.

The letter, a copy of which was sighted by Vanguard on
Wednesday, read in part:

“On or about 14th August, 2026, the public was inundated
with news reports of not just the filing of the action, but also narratives of
the issues purportedly submitted for the court’s consideration by the
plaintiffs.

“Despite this, our client has not been served with the
originating processes till date. When our client got wind that the matter would
be coming up for mention before the Honourable Court on 1st September, 2026, he
instructed us to appear for him, pursuant to which a member of his legal team,
Prince Omosanya Popoola, SAN, appeared in court, not only to represent him, but
also to collect the processes filed by the plaintiffs on his behalf, as per his
instruction.

“The appearance of Prince Omosanya Popoola, SAN, on the said
day is on the court’s record. Surprisingly, the plaintiffs’ counsel objected to
this harmless but very reasonable application by counsel to collect the
processes in open court.

“To date, our client remains the only party that has not
been served with the originating processes. Further to the foregoing, we hereby
(on our client’s instruction) formally apply that the court provide us with
either the service copy (of the originating processes) meant for our client or
a certified true copy of the said originating processes, to enable the
immediate filing of his response to the plaintiffs’ suit.

“This is not only in furtherance of his right to a fair
hearing, but also in demonstration of the fact that our client has nothing to
hide.

“Kindly bring this letter to the urgent attention of the
Honourable Presiding Judge.

“We undertake to pay the necessary fees for the certified
true copies,” the letter added.

The plaintiffs have also applied to be allowed to effect
some amendments to the suit, especially to change the name of the INEC form
that President Tinubu allegedly attached the forged certificates to, which was
wrongly referred to as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9.

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