Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging President Bola Tinubu’s qualification to contest the 2027 presidential election, alleging that the President submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission. 

Atiku, who is running under the African Democratic Congress, personally appeared at the court registry to depose to an affidavit backing the suit, which also names the APC and INEC as defendants.

According to the affidavit, the disputed NYSC certificate bears the name Tinubu Bola Adekunle rather than the President’s known name, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the plaintiffs contend that the document was not one Tinubu actually obtained. They further allege that the same certificate was submitted in connection with both the 2023 and 2027 presidential elections.

The suit leans heavily on Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution, which bars a candidate from contesting the presidency if he has presented a forged certificate to INEC, and asks the court to determine whether the discrepancy in names disqualifies Tinubu and his party from the race.

Atiku has also asked INEC to produce Tinubu’s Form CF001 filings for both election cycles, saying his earlier request for certified copies went unanswered.

Speaking after taking the oath in person, Atiku framed the move as a matter of constitutional principle rather than political point-scoring, arguing that ordinary Nigerian graduates face rigorous scrutiny of their NYSC documentation and that the standard should not disappear simply because the applicant is seeking the country’s highest office.

He stressed that the allegations remain to be judicially established and said the case was ultimately about equal application of the law before the Constitution, insisting that neither he nor the President stands above it.

The suit adds to a string of legal challenges over Tinubu’s academic and service records that have surfaced in recent months, including a separate case filed in June by a civil society group raising similar questions about his Chicago State University certificate and NYSC documentation.

With the case now before the Federal High Court, the coming weeks are expected to bring further scrutiny of INEC’s custody of Tinubu’s nomination records ahead of the 2027 election cycle.