A Federal High Court will rule on Atiku Abubakar’s bid to amend his alleged certificate forgery suit seeking Tinubu’s disqualification in 2027.
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 20 to rule on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s application to amend his suit seeking to stop President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from participating in the 2027 presidential election.
The judge fixed the date on Tuesday after hearing arguments from Atiku’s legal team and lawyers representing Tinubu and the APC, who opposed the proposed amendments.
Atiku’s lawyer, Joseph Onu, adopted the application seeking the court’s permission to amend the originating summons to accommodate additional allegations and evidence in the certificate forgery case.
Onu said the proposed amendment would enable the plaintiff to present further evidence against Tinubu and the APC.
Atiku and the African Democratic Congress (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 reference to an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.
They also sought to provide details of the alleged fraud, include a written deposition by Atiku and attach clearer copies of exhibits that were unavailable when the suit was initially filed.
However, Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku should not be allowed to alter his case at this stage.
Olanipekun said the former Vice-President could not “shift the goal post in the middle of the game”.
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 lawyer, Alex Izinyon, SAN, adopted the same position, asking Justice Ekwo to dismiss the request and proceed to the substantive matter.
After listening to the arguments, the judge fixed November 20 to deliver his ruling on whether Atiku and the ADC can amend the suit.
The main case seeks to disqualify Tinubu and the APC from the 2027 presidential election over the President’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate submitted to INEC.
Atiku and the ADC 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 parties for the election.
Their central argument is that the NYSC discharge certificate presented by Tinubu bears the name ‘Bola Adekunle’.
Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegation and asked the court to dismiss the suit.
In opposing the amendment, 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 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.
INEC also opposed the application, arguing that the proposed amendments would introduce a new cause of action and attempt to remedy defects in the original suit after the constitutional deadline for filing pre-election cases had expired.
