The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 20 to rule on an application by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seeking to amend his suit seeking the disqualification of President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress from the 2027 presidential election over an alleged forgery of the President’s National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate.
Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date on Tuesday after hearing arguments for and against the application by Atiku and the African Democratic Congress, whose presidential candidate is the former Vice-President.
At the proceedings, Atiku’s counsel, Joseph Onu, urged the court to grant the application, arguing that the proposed amendments were necessary to correct errors in the originating summons and introduce additional evidence in support of the allegations against Tinubu and the APC.
The plaintiffs filed the application on September 10, seeking leave to amend their originating summons and have the proposed amended processes deemed properly filed and served.
They said they discovered errors in the original suit, including the reference to an Independent National Electoral Commission form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.
They also argued that the amendments would provide particulars of the alleged fraud, incorporate a written deposition by Atiku and attach clearer copies of exhibits that were unavailable when the suit was filed.
However, Tinubu’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that the plaintiffs should not be allowed to shift the goalposts midway through the proceedings.
A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi, SAN, who represented the APC, also urged the court to reject the application.
Another senior advocate, Dr Alex Izinyon, similarly opposed the proposed amendments, asking Justice Ekwo to dismiss the application and proceed to the substantive suit.
After listening to the arguments, the judge adjourned until November 20 for a ruling on whether the plaintiffs would be permitted to amend their originating summons.
Atiku and the ADC instituted the substantive suit seeking an order disqualifying Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election over the President’s NYSC discharge certificate submitted to INEC.
The plaintiffs alleged that the certificate submitted to the electoral commission was forged and asked the court to direct INEC to remove Tinubu and the APC from the list of candidates and political parties for the election.
Their central argument is that the NYSC discharge certificate presented by the President bears the name Bola Adekunle, rather than Bola Tinubu, the name by which he is widely known.
Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
In opposing the amendment application, Tinubu’s legal team argued that the proposed changes went beyond correcting errors and would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts into the case.
The President’s lawyers also contended that the substantive suit was statute-barred, arguing that the cause of action arose on July 11, when Tinubu’s name was submitted to INEC, while the suit was filed on August 14.
INEC also opposed the application, arguing that the proposed amendments would introduce a new cause of action and amount to an attempt to cure defects in the original suit after the constitutional deadline for filing pre-election cases had elapsed.
