Tinubu, APC Pray Court to Dismiss Atiku’s 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 over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), and his party instituted the case against Tinubu, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, the plaintiffs alleged that Tinubu submitted a forged NYSC discharge certificate to INEC and asked the court to disqualify him and the APC from participating in the 2027 presidential election.

However, in a joint counter-affidavit filed on September 9, Tinubu and the APC denied the allegation and maintained that no forged document was submitted to INEC for either the 2023 or 2027 presidential elections.

The counter-affidavit was deposed to by APC Director of Legal Services, Sanusi Samaila, who also disputed the claim that Tinubu submitted Form CF001 to INEC for the elections.

Samaila said the NYSC had never disowned the discharge certificate issued to Tinubu after his service year. He maintained that the educational credentials and NYSC certificate submitted by the president were acceptable to INEC.

He added that INEC subsequently published Tinubu’s name and personal details as the APC presidential candidate for the 2023 election and the party’s candidate for the 2027 poll.

The APC legal director further argued that neither Tinubu nor the party violated any constitutional provision by submitting the president’s personal information to INEC.

He also questioned Atiku and ADC’s standing to challenge Tinubu’s nomination by the APC, noting that neither plaintiff participated in the party’s presidential primary election in May when Tinubu emerged as its candidate.

Samaila maintained that the plaintiffs were not alleging any breach of the Electoral Act or the 1999 Constitution by Tinubu and APC but were instead challenging the nomination and submission of Tinubu’s name to INEC for the 2027 election.

He added that the plaintiffs were not challenging any decision or action taken by INEC in relation to the matter.

According to the APC, it submitted the names of its candidates for the 2027 elections to INEC through a letter dated June 26. The party said INEC acknowledged receipt of Tinubu’s profile as its presidential candidate on July 11.

In a separate written address filed alongside the application, Tinubu and APC’s counsel, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, raised several objections to Atiku and ADC’s originating summons.

Olujinmi argued that because forgery is a criminal allegation, the burden of proving it lies on the plaintiffs to the required standard of proof under the Evidence Act.

He further argued that where the authenticity of a certificate is disputed, the issuing institution would be expected to provide evidence that the document was not issued by it.

The senior lawyer relied on an earlier Supreme Court decision in support of his position, arguing that without a statement or evidence from the body alleged to have issued the disputed certificate denying its authenticity, the claim that the document was forged could not stand.

Tinubu and the APC are therefore asking the Federal High Court to reject Atiku and ADC’s case and allow the president’s candidacy for the 2027 presidential election to stand.