By Jelili Gbadamosi
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, have challenged a suit filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, seeking Tinubu’s disqualification from the 2027 presidential election.
The defendants urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the case, describing the suit as incompetent and arguing that the plaintiffs lacked the legal basis to institute the action.
Atiku and the ADC had approached the court over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, discharge certificate which they claimed was submitted to INEC on behalf of Tinubu.
The plaintiffs are asking Justice Inyang Ekwo to order INEC to remove Tinubu and the APC from the list of candidates and political parties for the 2027 presidential election.
However, INEC, through its lawyer, Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, in a preliminary objection filed on September 7, challenged the competence of the suit.
The electoral commission argued that the case was statute-barred, disclosed no reasonable cause of action and amounted to an abuse of court process.
INEC also contended that Atiku and the ADC lacked the necessary locus standi to institute the action and failed to comply with the mandatory written deposition requirement under Paragraph 7(1) of the Federal High Court Pre-Election Practice Directions (Amendment) 2026.
The commission further challenged the propriety of Reliefs 2 and 3 contained in the plaintiffs’ originating summons, urging the court to dismiss the suit.
Similarly, Tinubu and the APC, in their joint counter-affidavit filed on September 9, denied the allegation that a forged NYSC certificate was submitted to INEC for either the 2023 or 2027 presidential election.
The defendants also disputed the claim that they submitted Form CF001 to INEC for the 2023 or 2027 election as alleged by Atiku and the ADC.
They maintained that the NYSC had never denied issuing a discharge certificate to Tinubu after he completed his service.
Through the APC Director of Legal Services, Mr Sanusi Samaila, Tinubu and the APC urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
The legal battle is now before the Federal High Court as the parties contest the competence of the action and the allegations surrounding Tinubu’s NYSC discharge certificate.
