‘NYSC certificate forgery’: Court fixes Nov 20 to rule on Atiku’s bid to amend suit against Tinubu

The federal high court in Abuja has fixed November 20 to rule on an application by Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, seeking to amend his suit challenging President Bola Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential poll over an alleged forgery of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, fixed the date on Tuesday after hearing arguments for and against the application by Atiku and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

At the proceedings, Joseph Onu, counsel to Atiku, prayed the court to grant the application to amend the originating summons filed against Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Onu said the proposed amendments would enable the plaintiffs to present additional evidence in support of their allegations against the president and his party.

Atiku and the ADC filed the application on September 10, seeking leave to amend their originating summons and have the proposed amended process deemed properly filed.

They said the amendment was necessary to correct errors in the original suit, including the description of an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.

The plaintiffs also sought to provide further particulars of the alleged fraud, include a written deposition by Atiku and attach clearer copies of exhibits that were unavailable when the suit was filed.

However, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Tinubu, opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku could not alter his case at this stage.

Akin Olujimi, a former attorney-general of the federation, who represented the APC, also urged the court to reject the application.

Alex Izinyon, another lawyer representing the defendants, similarly opposed the proposed amendments and asked the court to proceed to the substantive suit.

After hearing the arguments, Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 20 for a ruling on the application.

Atiku and the ADC filed the substantive suit seeking to stop 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 complaint centres on the name on the certificate, which they say bears “Bola Adekunle” rather than Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegation and urged the court to dismiss the suit.

Tinubu also opposed the amendment application, arguing that the proposed changes went beyond correcting errors and would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts into the case.

The president’s legal team further argued that the substantive suit was statute-barred, contending that the cause of action arose when his name was submitted to INEC on July 11, 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 attempt to cure defects in the original suit after the constitutional deadline for filing pre-election cases had expired.