2027: Court adjourns Atiku’s suit challenging Tinubu’s eligibility

The suit filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar challenging President Bola Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election suffered a setback on Tuesday, as the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned the matter over the failure to serve the President with the originating summons.

At the resumed proceedings, Atiku’s counsel, Joseph Silas, told Justice Inyang Ekwo that efforts to personally serve Tinubu with the court process had been unsuccessful.

Silas consequently sought an order permitting substituted service to enable the suit to proceed.

However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Omosanya Popoola, who appeared for Tinubu, offered to accept the court process on behalf of the President.

Popoola urged the court to direct Atiku’s counsel to hand over the originating summons to him in open court for onward delivery to his client.

The move triggered a disagreement between the lawyers, with Atiku’s counsel insisting that Popoola should first provide a written undertaking confirming that he had Tinubu’s mandate to accept the process on his behalf.

As the lawyers failed to resolve the issue, Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter to enable Atiku’s legal team to regularise the service of the court process.

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Alex Izinyon, also attempted to persuade the court to allow the process to be served on Tinubu through his counsel so that the case could proceed.

The attempt, however, failed, as Justice Ekwo eventually adjourned further mention of the case until September 28, 2026.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, had instituted the suit against Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He is asking the court to determine whether Tinubu is qualified to contest the 2027 presidential election under Sections 137(1)(j), 139(1)(a)(i) and 285(14)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

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A major plank of the suit is Atiku’s allegation concerning an NYSC discharge certificate submitted to INEC in Tinubu’s name.

According to Atiku, the certificate bears the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle”, rather than “Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, and was submitted to INEC in connection with the 2023 and 2027 presidential elections.

He alleged that the document was not a certificate obtained by Tinubu and asked the court to determine whether its submission amounted to the presentation of a forged certificate, which would trigger the disqualification provision contained in Section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution.

Atiku also placed INEC on notice to produce Tinubu’s Form CF001 submitted for the 2023 and 2027 presidential elections.

In his affidavit, the former vice president argued that the identity and authenticity of the NYSC certificate were issues that should be determined through evidence.

He stated, “If the certificate belongs to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, let that be established before the court. If ‘Tinubu Bola Adekunle’ and ‘Bola Ahmed Tinubu’ are one and the same person for the purpose of that certificate, let the evidence establish it.”

Atiku and the ADC are also challenging provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, which they contend restrict the circumstances under which a candidate’s qualification can be challenged before an election.

They are further challenging the effect of the legislation on Section 139(1)(a)(i) of the Constitution, which provides for laws governing the questioning of whether a person elected as President was qualified to contest the election.

The plaintiffs argue that an Act of the National Assembly cannot override an express constitutional provision, maintaining that where there is a conflict between a statute and the Constitution, the Constitution must prevail.

The originating summons therefore asks the Federal High Court to determine whether the statutory restrictions relied upon by the defendants can prevent the plaintiffs from invoking Section 137(1)(j) of the Constitution.

Atiku and the ADC are also seeking an order disqualifying Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election if the allegations are established.