Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja for permission to amend his suit challenging President Bola Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku and the ADC are seeking to amend the suit concerning the alleged submission of Tinubu’s National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Inyang Ekwo has fixed October 13, 2026, for the hearing of the application and to enable parties to regularise their court processes.
At Monday’s proceedings, counsel to Atiku and the ADC, Joseph Silas, told the court that although responses had been received from some of the defendants, President Tinubu’s counter-affidavit had not been served on them.
However, counsel to Tinubu, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, informed the court that the President’s counter-affidavit was served on the plaintiffs on September 24.Justice Ekwo subsequently confirmed the proof of service contained in the court file and adjourned the matter.
Atiku’s NYSC certificate suitAtiku and the ADC had instituted the substantive suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, seeking the disqualification of Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress from the 2027 presidential election.
The plaintiffs alleged that the APC submitted a forged NYSC discharge certificate belonging to Tinubu to INEC.They consequently asked the court to order INEC to remove Tinubu and the APC from its list of presidential candidates and parties for the 2027 election.
Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegation and urged the court to dismiss the suit.In their joint counter-affidavit filed on September 9, they argued that the suit was incompetent and that the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to institute it.
They also denied submitting any forged certificate to INEC for either the 2023 or 2027 presidential election.The defendants further argued that the NYSC had never disowned the discharge certificate allegedly issued to Tinubu after his service year.
Why Atiku wants to amend suitAtiku and the ADC filed their motion seeking permission to amend the originating summons on September 10.They told the court that they discovered errors in the description of some INEC documents attached to their affidavit.
According to the plaintiffs, the relevant document was described as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.They also said they needed to provide further particulars of the alleged fraud, attach a written deposition by Atiku and provide clearer copies of some exhibits.
The plaintiffs maintained that the proposed amendments would not introduce a new issue or additional relief and argued that the changes were necessary in the interest of justice.Tinubu opposes amendmentPresident Tinubu opposed the application, arguing that the proposed amendment went beyond correcting errors in the description of documents.
In his counter-affidavit, filed through his legal team, Tinubu argued that Atiku was attempting to introduce a new relief, additional documents and new paragraphs into the case.
He also contended that the substantive suit was statute-barred, arguing that the cause of action arose when Tinubu’s name was submitted to INEC on July 11, while the suit was filed on August 14.The President’s legal team further argued that the constitutional timeline for filing a pre-election case could not be extended through a court practice direction.
They maintained that an incompetent originating process could not be amended after the expiration of the constitutionally prescribed period.INEC, APC challenge amendment applicationINEC has also opposed Atiku’s request to amend the suit.The commission argued that the proposed amendment would effectively introduce a new cause of action and seek to cure alleged defects after the expiration of the constitutionally prescribed period for filing the case.
INEC had earlier filed a preliminary objection challenging the competence of the substantive suit on grounds including statute-bar, lack of locus standi, absence of a reasonable cause of action and alleged abuse of court process.
The commission also argued that the plaintiffs failed to comply with certain requirements under the Federal High Court Pre-Election Practice Directions.The APC has equally opposed the motion seeking to amend the suit.The Federal High Court is expected to hear Atiku and the ADC’s application on October 13.
