- INEC said it only published documents that presidential candidates submitted, and has no authority to question or alter them
- An ADC chieftain submitted a petition against Tinubu to the European Commission in Brussels over alleged false academic credentials
- Atiku filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking Tinubu’s disqualification over an alleged forged NYSC certificate
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has offered an explanation for why President Bola Tinubu’s primary and secondary school certificates are absent from the credentials it published for the 2027 presidential election.
A senior INEC official, speaking anonymously to Sunday PUNCH, said the commission simply published whatever documents each candidate chose to submit and had no power to demand, question, or supplement those materials. The official added that the publication was also meant to give members of the public an opportunity to raise concerns about any of the credentials.
Source: Twitter
“We only published what was submitted to the commission. We don’t have any authority to question those ones. I mean, our own is just to publish so that anybody who has an objection can raise issues with what we’ve published,” the official said.
Petition submitted to European Commission
Even as INEC offered its clarification, pressure mounted on Tinubu from another direction. On Friday, a legal counsel and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kalu Agu, travelled to Brussels, Belgium, to submit a petition against the President to the European Commission.
Agu alleged that Tinubu presented false academic credentials to INEC in connection with the constitutional requirements for the 2027 election and also failed to disclose the primary and secondary schools he attended in documents filed with the commission. He urged the European Union to intervene over what he called an alleged subversion of Nigeria’s constitutional order. A video shared on X by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s media aide, Paul Ibe, showed Agu handing the petition to the European Commission.
Atiku takes Tinubu to Federal High Court
Separately, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the ADC, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday seeking Tinubu’s disqualification from the 2027 presidential race. Atiku personally appeared at the court registry to depose to an affidavit backing the case.
The suit, brought by Atiku and the ADC, relies on Sections 137(1)(j), 139(1)(a)(i) and 285(14)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, along with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026. Section 137(1)(j) bars any person from contesting the presidency if they have presented a forged certificate to INEC.
According to Atiku’s affidavit, the NYSC discharge certificate allegedly submitted by Tinubu to INEC bears the name “Tinubu Bola Adekunle” rather than the President’s full name, “Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” The plaintiffs are asking the court to disqualify Tinubu and the APC from the 2027 election if the allegation is proven.
Atiku argued that all presidential candidates should be held to the same standard as ordinary Nigerians when it comes to verifying their qualifications. “The Presidency is not an immunity certificate against constitutional scrutiny,” he said. He also called on INEC to demonstrate its neutrality by making the relevant electoral records available to the court.
Source: Facebook
Atiku files suit to disqualify Tinubu from 2027 election
Legit.ng earlier reported that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, walked into the Registry of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, August 14, 2026, to personally swear to an affidavit backing a lawsuit that seeks to bar President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from participating in the 2027 presidential election.
Source: Legit.ng