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The Federal High Court in Abuja has given former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seven days to serve President Bola Tinubu with a suit challenging his eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order on Wednesday while ruling on an application seeking permission for the legal documents to be served on Tinubu through his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The order followed a motion moved by Atiku’s lawyer, Olanrewaju Omotayo-Ojo, who appeared in court in place of Silas Onu, who was said to be bereaved.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was filed by Atiku, a former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with the ADC joined as the second plaintiff.
Tinubu, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are listed as the first to third defendants respectively.
Atiku is challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to participate in the 2027 presidential election, alleging that the President submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to INEC.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, Atiku alleged that Tinubu provided false information in the Form EC9 submitted to the electoral body.
He specifically questioned an NYSC certificate bearing the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle”, alleging that the document was not issued to the President and was presented to INEC as genuine.
Atiku told the court that the certificate had allegedly been in circulation since 1999, when Tinubu contested the Lagos State governorship election.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether Tinubu and the APC should be disqualified from participating in the 2027 presidential election over the alleged submission of a forged certificate, relying on provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2026.
They are also seeking declarations that Tinubu presented a forged certificate to INEC during his 1999 governorship bid and that this amounted to a breach of the constitutional requirements for presidential candidates.
The court had earlier fixed September 28 for the commencement of the substantive hearing.
Meanwhile, INEC has filed processes challenging the competence of the suit and asking the court to dismiss it.
Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Akin Olujinmi and Wole Olanipekun, have also separately filed processes purporting to represent Tinubu in the case.
Olujinmi, in a counter-affidavit, argued that Atiku’s case was statute-barred, contending that the relevant documents were submitted to INEC before August 1 and that the 14-day period prescribed for such litigation had expired.
He also questioned Atiku’s legal standing to challenge documents submitted by the APC.
Olanipekun, who also identified himself as Tinubu’s counsel, filed a preliminary objection and counter-affidavit seeking the dismissal of the suit.
In a September 10 letter to the court’s Deputy Chief Registrar, Olanipekun said Tinubu had briefed him to lead a team of lawyers to represent him in the matter.
The lawyer also complained that Tinubu had yet to be personally served with the originating processes despite the case having been filed.
The plaintiffs have separately sought permission to amend parts of their suit, including correcting the name of the INEC form to which they allegedly referred to the disputed certificate.
