Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has secured a court order permitting him to serve President Bola Tinubu through the All Progressives Congress in a suit challenging the President’s eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election. The development brings another legal dimension to the political contest ahead of the next presidential election and places questions surrounding eligibility and nomination before the judiciary.
The case was instituted by Atiku alongside the African Democratic Congress, with President Tinubu, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission listed as defendants. The suit raises allegations concerning documents and certificates submitted to INEC and asks the court to determine questions surrounding Tinubu’s eligibility. The allegations are matters for judicial determination, and the defendants are entitled to respond through the legal process.
The court’s permission to effect service through the APC is essentially a procedural development. It does not amount to a judicial finding that the allegations made by the plaintiffs have been established. Rather, it allows the case to proceed by ensuring that the defendants are formally brought into the proceedings through the method approved by the court.
The development comes at a politically active period, with opposition parties and political figures increasingly organising ahead of 2027. The case will therefore be watched alongside other legal and political developments surrounding the next presidential election. The eventual determination will depend on the evidence and legal arguments presented before the court, while the wider political contest continues to take shape.
