A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 20, 2026, to deliver its ruling on an application by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seeking permission to amend his suit against President Bola Tinubu over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date on Tuesday after hearing arguments on whether Atiku and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) should be allowed to amend their originating summons to include additional allegations against Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku and the ADC had filed the substantive suit seeking the disqualification of Tinubu and the APC from the 2027 presidential election over the NYSC discharge certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They alleged that the certificate submitted to INEC was forged, arguing that it bears the name Bola Adekunle rather than Bola Tinubu.
They asked the court to direct INEC to remove the president and the APC from the list of candidates and political parties for the election.
Tinubu and the APC have denied the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit.
The president opposed the application to amend the case, arguing that the proposed changes went beyond correcting errors and would introduce new reliefs, documents and facts.
INEC also opposed the application, contending that the amendments 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.
Atiku and the ADC filed the application on September 10, asking the court to allow them to amend their originating summons and deem the proposed amended processes as properly filed.
They said they had discovered errors in the original suit, including the reference to an INEC form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.
However, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria representing Tinubu, opposed the request, arguing that the parties had already joined issues and that Atiku should not be allowed to change the case midway through the proceedings.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Joseph Silas Onu, counsel representing Atiku, adopted the application and urged the court to grant permission to amend the suit against Tinubu and the APC to accommodate additional allegations.
Justice Ekwo subsequently fixed November 20 for his ruling on the application.
The court’s decision will determine whether Atiku and the ADC can proceed with the proposed amendments to their existing suit.
