Court Adjourns Atiku, ADC Suit Against Tinubu, APC to October 13

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until October 13, 2026, the hearing of an application filed by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) seeking to amend their suit against President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date after lawyers representing the parties informed the court that some processes relating to the application needed to be regularised.

Counsel to Atiku and the ADC, Joseph Silas, told the court that he had received responses from the other defendants but had not yet received Tinubu’s counter-affidavit.

However, counsel to President Tinubu, Wole Olanipekun, said the president’s counter-affidavit had already been served on the plaintiffs on September 24.

Justice Ekwo confirmed the proof of service filed by Tinubu’s legal team before adjourning the matter.

Atiku and the ADC are seeking to amend their substantive suit challenging Tinubu and the APC over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate allegedly submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiffs are asking the court to disqualify Tinubu and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election and direct INEC to remove their names from the list of candidates and political parties for the election.

The application to amend the suit was filed on September 10 after Atiku and the ADC said they discovered errors in their original court processes.

Among the proposed corrections is changing the reference to an INEC form from Form CF001 to Form EC9A.

The plaintiffs also want to include details of the alleged fraud in their affidavit, add a written deposition by Atiku and attach clearer copies of exhibits which they said were unavailable when the case was initially filed.

Tinubu has opposed the application, arguing that the proposed amendments go beyond correcting errors and would introduce new facts, documents, questions for determination and additional reliefs into the case.

The president’s legal team also argued that the substantive suit was statute-barred, maintaining that the cause of action arose when Tinubu’s name was submitted to INEC on July 11, while Atiku and the ADC filed the suit on August 14.

They argued that the court’s practice directions could not extend the constitutional deadline for filing a pre-election case.

INEC has also opposed the proposed amendments, arguing that they would introduce a new cause of action and attempt to correct defects in the original suit after the constitutional deadline for filing pre-election cases had expired.

Tinubu and the APC have denied submitting any forged NYSC certificate to INEC and have urged the court to dismiss the suit.

The court is now scheduled to hear the application to amend the originating summons on October 13, 2026.