Fresh Legal Challenge Targets Tinubu’s 2027 Re-Election Bid Over Certificate Allegations

A civil society organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of the Centre for Reforms and Public Advocacy (CRPA), has instituted a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Kano seeking the disqualification of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from participating in the 2027 presidential election over allegations relating to his academic and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) credentials.

The suit, marked FHC/KN/CS/312/2026, was filed on June 26, 2026, before the Kano Judicial Division of the Federal High Court. The defendants named in the action are President Tinubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Chicago State University (CSU).

According to the court filings, the plaintiff alleges that Tinubu submitted forged academic credentials and a falsified NYSC discharge certificate to INEC in support of his qualification for the 2023 presidential election. The group argues that the alleged discrepancies render him constitutionally ineligible to seek another term in office.

Among the reliefs sought, the organisation is asking the court to declare the certificates submitted to INEC invalid, order INEC to disqualify Tinubu from the 2027 presidential race, restrain the electoral commission from accepting or processing any future nomination by the President, and direct Chicago State University to remove his name from its records.

The plaintiff said the action follows a series of letters sent between 2025 and 2026 to INEC, the NYSC and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, requesting clarification on the President’s academic and service records. It claimed the concerns were not satisfactorily addressed, prompting it to seek judicial interpretation of the constitutional provisions governing eligibility for elective office.

Court documents indicate that the organisation intends to rely on records obtained during the 2023 legal proceedings in the United States involving Chicago State University, as well as correspondence exchanged with relevant public institutions. Emmanuella Alisi was listed as the plaintiff’s sole witness.

As of the time of reporting, no hearing date had been fixed by the court, and none of the defendants had filed formal responses to the allegations. The claims contained in the suit remain allegations that have not been determined by the court.