By Ade Oyeyemi
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 13, 2026, for the hearing of an application by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress to amend their suit challenging President Bola Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter on Monday after counsel for the plaintiffs, Joseph Silas, informed the court that all the defendants had been served with the relevant processes and had responded.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was filed by Atiku and the ADC against Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Silas also notified the court that the plaintiffs had filed an application seeking to amend the originating summons and that the defendants had been served with the application.
The latest proceedings followed an earlier dispute over the service of the originating summons on Tinubu.
At Monday’s sitting, counsel for the President, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, referred to the September 1 proceedings, when counsel for the second defendant, Popoola Owosanya, had offered to receive the court processes on behalf of Tinubu.
Olanipekun told the court that the offer was rejected by the plaintiffs’ lawyers, who subsequently sought an order permitting substituted service on the President.
Justice Ekwo, however, urged the lawyers to concentrate on the matter before the court.
After confirming that the parties had been served with the application to amend the originating summons, the judge adjourned the case for hearing of the application.
The court subsequently ordered that the matter be heard on October 13.
Atiku and the ADC instituted the suit in August, asking the court to determine whether Tinubu is qualified to contest the 2027 presidential election. The plaintiffs’ case includes an allegation concerning an alleged discrepancy between the name on a National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate submitted to INEC and the President’s official name.
On September 16, Justice Ekwo had granted the plaintiffs permission to serve Tinubu through the APC after they told the court that efforts to personally serve the President had been unsuccessful. The APC subsequently challenged the substituted-service order, arguing that Tinubu’s lawyers had already obtained the processes and filed responses in the case.
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Tinubu and the APC have challenged the competence of the suit and denied the allegation concerning the NYSC certificate. INEC has also filed a preliminary objection questioning, among other issues, the plaintiffs’ locus standi and the competence of the action.
The substantive allegations and the defendants’ objections remain before the court for determination.
