NYSC Certificate: Court Sets Date To Decide Atiku’s Fresh Move Against Tinubu

L-R: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and President Bola Tinubu Key Takeaways Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, fixed November 20 to rule on Atiku Abubakar’s bid to amend his suit against President Bola Tinubu and the APC. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the ADC filed the amendment request on September 10, citing errors and seeking clearer exhibits, extra fraud details and Atiku’s written deposition. President Bola Tinubu, the APC and INEC opposed the amendment, arguing issues were already joined and the suit was statute-barred after July 11 and August 14 filings. The Federal High Court in Abuja will on November 20 decide whether former Vice President Atiku Abubakar can amend his suit seeking to stop President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from participating in the 2027 presidential election.

Naija News reports that Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo fixed the date on Tuesday after listening to arguments for and against Atiku’s request to make changes to the case.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), wants to amend the suit to include additional details and evidence in his allegations concerning the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

At Tuesday’s proceedings, Joseph Silas Onu, who represented Atiku, urged the court to grant the application, arguing that the proposed changes would enable the plaintiff to present further evidence in support of the case.

Atiku and the ADC filed the application on September 10, asking the court for permission to amend their originating summons and accept the revised documents as properly filed.

They explained that they discovered errors in the original suit, including the reference to an INEC form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.

The applicants also said the changes were necessary to provide details of the alleged fraud, include a written deposition by Atiku and attach clearer copies of exhibits that were unavailable when the case was first filed.

However, Tinubu and the APC opposed the request, arguing that the proposed amendments would go beyond correcting errors in the original documents.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Wole Olanipekun, who represented Tinubu, told the court that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku should not be allowed to change the direction of the case at this stage.

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi, also opposed the application on behalf of the APC and urged the judge to reject it.

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Alex Izinyon, argued against the request, asking the court to dismiss the application and proceed to hear the substantive suit.

After listening to the lawyers, Justice Ekwo fixed November 20 for his ruling on whether Atiku and the ADC should be allowed to amend their case.

Atiku and the ADC instituted the main suit to challenge Tinubu’s participation in the 2027 presidential election over the NYSC discharge certificate he submitted to INEC.

They alleged that the certificate submitted by the President 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 argument centres on the name on the NYSC certificate, which they said bears ‘Bola Adekunle’ rather than the name Bola Tinubu, by which the President is widely known.

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

The President also argued that the proposed amendments would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts rather than merely correct errors in the original case.

His legal team further 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 Atiku and the ADC filed their case on August 14.

INEC also opposed the amendment request, maintaining that it would introduce a new cause of action and attempt to correct defects in the original suit after the constitutional deadline for filing pre-election cases had expired.

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