The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday directed that President Bola Tinubu be served within seven days with a suit seeking to bar him from the 2027 presidential election over claims that he submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Inyang Ekwo approved substituted service of the processes on Tinubu through his political party, the All Progressives Congress. The order followed a motion by counsel for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar after the plaintiffs reported difficulty effecting personal service.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was filed by Atiku and the African Democratic Congress. It lists Tinubu, the APC and INEC as defendants. Atiku alleges in a 25-paragraph affidavit that Tinubu presented a bogus NYSC discharge certificate bearing the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle” when he sought the presidency. He maintains the certificate does not belong to Tinubu, whose name is not Adekunle, and that the document remains in INEC’s custody.
According to the affidavit, Tinubu has used the same certificate since contesting the Lagos State governorship election in 1999. Atiku asks the court to determine whether constitutional and electoral provisions allow the plaintiffs to enforce the ban on candidates who present forged certificates, and whether Tinubu and the APC should be disqualified from the 2027 race for that reason. He seeks a declaration that Tinubu breached the constitution by submitting the document in 1999 and an order barring both Tinubu and the APC from the next presidential election.
The court has fixed September 28 for the commencement of full hearing. INEC has already filed processes urging the court to dismiss the suit as incompetent. Two senior advocates have separately entered appearances for Tinubu. Former Attorney-General Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, argued in a counter-affidavit that the case is statute-barred because the certificates were submitted before August 1 and the 14-day window for challenge had expired. He also contended that Atiku, as a member of the ADC, lacks the standing to question actions taken by the APC.
Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, also filed a preliminary objection and counter-affidavit describing the suit as incompetent and an abuse of process. In a letter dated September 10 to the court’s deputy chief registrar, Olanipekun stated that Tinubu briefed him to lead the defence and that a member of the team had appeared on September 1 to collect the processes, only for the plaintiffs’ counsel to object. He requested certified copies so that Tinubu’s response could be filed promptly.
The plaintiffs have applied to amend the suit to correct the reference to the INEC form from CF001 to EC9.
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