Court Allows Atiku To Serve Tinubu Through APC In Eligibility Suit
By Victor Idajili
The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, permission to serve court papers on President Bola Tinubu through the All Progressives Congress.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the order on Wednesday while ruling on an ex parte motion filed by Atiku's counsel, O.T. Omotayo-Ojo, who asked for substituted service.
Atiku and the ADC are asking the court to disqualify Tinubu and the APC from contesting the 2027 presidential election over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, lists Tinubu, APC and INEC as first to third defendants. The plaintiffs want INEC to remove Tinubu and the APC from the list of candidates and parties for the 2027 poll.
At Wednesday's hearing, Omotayo-Ojo, who held the brief of Silas Onu, told the court that personal service on Tinubu had failed, hence the need to serve him through his party. Justice Ekwo granted the request and ordered service within seven days, following an undertaking by counsel. He adjourned the case to September 28 for mention.
At the September 1 sitting, Onu had also told the court of the difficulty in serving Tinubu personally and sought leave for substituted service.
Meanwhile, Tinubu, APC and INEC have filed objections asking the court to dismiss the suit.
In a joint counter-affidavit filed on September 9, Tinubu and APC, through APC Director of Legal Services, Sanusi Samaila, denied submitting any forged certificate to INEC for the 2023 or 2027 elections. They also said they did not submit Form CF001 as alleged, and that the NYSC has never denied issuing a discharge certificate to Tinubu.
They argued that no constitutional provision was breached and no injustice was done to the plaintiffs.
In their preliminary objection, counsel to Tinubu and APC, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, said forgery is a criminal allegation that must be proved beyond reasonable doubt under Section 135(1) of the Evidence Act. He argued that there must be a disclaimer from the issuing institution, citing Supreme Court decisions which hold that forgery cannot be sustained without evidence from the body alleged to have issued the document, and that two documents must be produced - the original and the allegedly forged one.
Olujinmi said Atiku and ADC provided no disclaimer from the NYSC and described the suit as academic and lacking facts. He also argued the case is a pre-election matter and the plaintiffs lack locus standi to challenge Tinubu's APC candidacy.
INEC, in its own objection filed September 7 through Dr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, also challenged the competence of the suit on grounds of statute-bar, lack of locus standi, absence of reasonable cause of action, abuse of court process, and non-compliance with the written deposition requirement under Paragraph 7(1) of the Federal High Court Pre-Election Practice Directions (Amendment) 2026. It also faulted reliefs 2 and 3 and urged dismissal.
