A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 20th November to rule on whether the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, can be permitted to amend his suit seeking to prohibit President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from participating in the 2027 presidential election.
Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date following the decision of Atiku Abubakar who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to amend his claims against Tinubu and the vehement opposition against the bid by Tinubu and APC.
During proceedings on Tuesday, counsel for Atiku, Silas Onu, prayed for permission of the Court to amend the originating summons against Tinubu and APC to accommodate more allegations on the grounds that the aim of the amendment being sought was to allow the plaintiff to produce more evidence against the president and his party in the certificate forgery battle.
On September 10, Atiku and the ADC filed the application seeking leave to amend their originating summons, noting that they discovered errors in the original suit, including referring to an INEC form as Form CF001 instead of Form EC9A.
They also said the amendment was necessary to set out the particulars of the alleged fraud, include a written deposition by Atiku, and attach clearer copies of exhibits that were unavailable when the suit was filed.
However, counsel for Atiku, Wole Olanipekun SAN, who represented Tinubu, kicked against Atiku Abubakar’s bid, adding that since both parties have joined issues with each other, the former Vice President cannot shift the goalposts in the middle of the game.
Counsel for the APC, Akin Olujimi SAN, who opposed Atiku on the same ground and urged the judge to reject Atiku’s submission.
Alex Izinyon also prayed Justice Ekwo to dismiss the amendment request and proceed to the substantive matter.
Justice Ekwo, after taking the adoption of arguments, announced November 20 to make his decision known in his ruling on the application.
Atiku and the ADC had filed the main suit seeking the disqualification of Tinubu and the APC from the 2027 presidential election over the President’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They alleged that the APC submitted a forged NYSC discharge certificate to INEC and asked the court to order the electoral commission to remove Tinubu and the APC from the list of candidates and parties for the election.
Atiku and ADC are saying that the NYSC discharge certificate presented by Tinubu bears Bola Adekunle as against Bola Tinubu, which the president is well known for.
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(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
