Court fixes Nov 20 to rule on Atiku’s bid to amend suit against Tinubu – The Witness Nigeria

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 20 to rule on an application by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar seeking to amend his suit challenging President Bola Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election over an alleged forgery of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date on Tuesday after hearing arguments for and against the application filed by Atiku and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

At the proceedings, Joseph Onu, counsel to Atiku, urged the court to grant the application seeking to amend the originating summons filed against Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Onu argued that the proposed amendments would allow the plaintiffs to present additional evidence in support of their allegations against the president and his party.

Atiku and the ADC filed the application on September 10, seeking the court’s permission to amend their originating summons and deem the proposed amended processes as properly filed.

The plaintiffs said the amendments were necessary to correct errors in the original suit, including the description of an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.

They 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, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Tinubu, opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku could not alter his case at this stage of the proceedings.

Akin Olujimi, a former attorney-general of the federation representing the APC, also urged the court to reject the application.

Alex Izinyon, another lawyer representing the defendants, similarly opposed the proposed amendments and asked the court to proceed to the substantive suit.

After listening to the arguments, Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 20 for a ruling on the application.

Atiku and the ADC filed the substantive suit seeking to prevent Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election over the president’s NYSC discharge certificate submitted to INEC.

The plaintiffs alleged that the certificate submitted to the electoral commission was forged. They 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 on the certificate, which they claim bears “Bola Adekunle” rather than Bola Tinubu.

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

The president also opposed the application to amend the suit, arguing that the proposed changes went beyond correcting errors and would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts into the case.

Tinubu’s legal team further argued that the substantive suit was statute-barred. It contended that the cause of action arose when his 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.