Atiku drags Tinubu to court over NYSC certificate again

Yesterday, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, through the African Democratic Congress (ADC), asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to disqualify President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the 2027 presidential election. The grounds? An alleged forged NYSC discharge certificate that was submitted to INEC.

According to the plaintiffs, the certificate bears the name "Tinubu Bola Adekunle," which is not the President's actual name, "Bola Ahmed Tinubu." They are asking the court to determine whether this discrepancy affects his qualification to contest. The suit also challenges certain provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to presidential candidates.

This is not a new fight. We have seen this script before, and it always ends the same way. But the question Nigerians should be asking is not whether Tinubu served or not. It is whether we have become a country where the highest office is determined by a piece of paper rather than the will of the people. If the court rules against him, what happens to all the laws he has signed? If it rules for him, what does that say about our electoral integrity?