Tinubu, APC Ask Court To Dismiss Atiku’s NYSC Certificate Forgery Suit

President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

According to Ireporter Online, Atiku and the ADC instituted the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, against Tinubu, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking the disqualification of the President and his party from the 2027 presidential election.

The plaintiffs alleged that Tinubu submitted a forged NYSC discharge certificate to INEC.

However, in a joint counter affidavit filed on Thursday, Tinubu and the APC denied the allegation, insisting that the President did not submit any forged certificate to INEC in connection with either the 2023 or 2027 presidential elections.

The APC Director of Legal Services, Sanusi Samaila, who deposed to the counter affidavit dated September 8, said Tinubu did not submit Form CF001 to INEC for either election as alleged by Atiku and the ADC.

Samaila also maintained that the NYSC had never disowned the discharge certificate allegedly issued to Tinubu after his service year.

He argued that none of the documents submitted by Tinubu to INEC in connection with the elections was forged and that the commission accepted his educational qualifications and NYSC certificate before publishing his particulars as the APC presidential candidate.

The APC further argued that Atiku and the ADC lacked the legal standing to challenge Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate because neither the former vice-president nor the ADC participated in the APC presidential primary that produced Tinubu.

According to Samaila, the plaintiffs were not alleging any breach of the Constitution or Electoral Act arising from Tinubu’s nomination but were instead challenging the submission of his name to INEC for the 2027 election.

He added that the APC submitted its candidates’ names to INEC in a letter dated June 26, while the commission acknowledged receipt of Tinubu’s profile on July 11.

In a separate written address, counsel to Tinubu and the APC, Akin Olujimi, urged Justice Inyang Ekwo to uphold the defendants’ preliminary objections and dismiss the case.

Olujimi argued that because forgery is a criminal allegation, the plaintiffs were required to establish their claim to the required standard of proof.

The lawyer also contended that evidence from the institution that allegedly issued a disputed certificate would be crucial to establishing forgery, arguing that Atiku and the ADC had not produced any document from the NYSC disclaiming the certificate in question.

He further said the plaintiffs had not presented either the original document from which the alleged forgery was made or the document they claimed was forged.

The defendants also challenged the timing and legal basis of parts of the suit, arguing that some of the reliefs sought were statute-barred.

Olujimi maintained that one of the claims should have been brought within the period prescribed by law and argued that another relief dependent on the same claim should consequently be struck out.

He further described the case as incompetent, arguing that it did not fall within the category of pre-election matters recognised under the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2026.

According to the lawyer, the relevant provisions allow an aspirant who participated in a political party’s primary to challenge the conduct of that primary.

He therefore maintained that Atiku and the ADC could not challenge Tinubu’s emergence as the APC candidate because they did not participate in the party’s primary.

The defendants also argued that the suit was improperly constituted because the plaintiffs were challenging provisions of the Electoral Act without joining the National Assembly, which enacted the law, as well as the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Olujimi consequently urged Justice Ekwo to uphold the preliminary objections and dismiss the suit.

The Federal High Court in Abuja is expected to determine the legal arguments as proceedings in the case continue.