Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 20 to rule on an application by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seeking permission to amend his suit seeking the disqualification of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from 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 amendment.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is seeking to amend the originating summons to introduce additional allegations and evidence in the legal battle over the authenticity of Tinubu’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, Joseph Silas Onu, counsel who appeared for Atiku, adopted the application and urged the court to grant permission for the amendment.
The lawyer explained that the proposed changes were intended to enable the plaintiff to present additional evidence in support of the allegations against Tinubu and the APC.
Atiku and the ADC had, on September 10, filed an application seeking leave to amend their originating summons and have the proposed amended processes deemed properly filed.
They argued that 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.
The applicants 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 initially filed.
However, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who represented Tinubu, opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku should not be allowed to alter his case at that stage of the proceedings.
Olanipekun maintained that granting the request would amount to allowing the former vice president to change the terms of the dispute after the legal battle had commenced.
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.
Similarly, legal practitioner Dr Alex Izinyon opposed the proposed amendment, asking Justice Ekwo to dismiss the request and proceed to the substantive suit.
Tinubu’s legal team further argued that the proposed amendments went beyond correcting errors and would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts into the case.
The President’s lawyers also contended that the substantive 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 suit on August 14.
INEC also opposed the amendment, maintaining that it 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.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 20 for a ruling on whether Atiku and the ADC would be allowed to amend their originating summons.
The main suit was filed by Atiku and the ADC to challenge Tinubu and the APC’s participation in the 2027 presidential election over the NYSC discharge certificate allegedly submitted by the President to INEC.
The plaintiffs alleged that the certificate 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 appearing on the NYSC discharge certificate, which they claim bears the name “Bola Adekunle” rather than the name “Bola Tinubu”.
Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
The November 20 ruling will determine whether Atiku and the ADC can proceed with the proposed amendments to their case. It will not, by itself, determine the substantive allegations against Tinubu or his eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.
