…Says Alleges Bias, Forum Shopping
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The Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy, CFRPA, has protested the transfer of its suit challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic credentials from the Kano Division of the Federal High Court to Abuja, alleging bias and an attempt to frustrate the proceedings.
The suit, marked FHC/KN/CS/312/2026, was filed on June 26, 2026, by the group in connection with President Tinubu’s qualification to participate in the 2027 presidential election.
The action raises allegations concerning academic credentials attributed to the President and invokes constitutional provisions relating to qualification and the presentation of allegedly forged certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The allegations remain before the court and have not been judicially established.
Head of Legal of CFRPA, Kalu Kalu Agu, disclosed that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court had ordered the transfer of the matter from the Kano Judicial Division to the Abuja Judicial Division following an application by lawyers representing President Tinubu.
Agu rejected the transfer and called for its reversal, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the decision created what he described as a reasonable apprehension of bias.
According to him, the transfer application was initiated by lawyers acting for the President and was granted in circumstances which, in the group’s view, could give the impression of preferential treatment.
“Manifest bias and likelihood of bias: The application for transfer was initiated and written by lawyers representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Agu said.
“The speed and manner of granting the transfer give the impression of preferential treatment and create a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the office of the Chief Judge in favour of Mr. Tinubu and his legal team.”
Agu also argued that retaining the case in Kano would make it easier for the plaintiff to prosecute the action because several members and proposed witnesses connected with the case reside in the state.
He maintained that transferring proceedings to Abuja would impose additional financial and logistical burdens on the plaintiff.
“Kano is where many of our witnesses and members reside. Transferring the case to Abuja at the instance of Bola Ahmed Tinubu imposes unnecessary hardship, cost, and inconvenience on the plaintiff and is designed to frustrate the case,” he alleged.
CFRPA further accused the President’s legal team of forum shopping, although that allegation has also not been determined by any court.
“The move from Kano to Abuja appears to be a deliberate attempt to shop for a more convenient forum for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is the sitting President, and to avoid public scrutiny in Kano,” Agu said.
He maintained that judicial proceedings must not only be impartial but must also command public confidence in their impartiality.
“The judiciary must not only be impartial; it must be seen to be impartial. This transfer, done at the behest of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the President’s lawyers, erodes public confidence in the independence of the Federal High Court,” he said.
The group consequently demanded that the Chief Judge reverse the transfer and allow the suit to continue in the Kano Division where it was initially instituted.
“We therefore demand that the Honourable Chief Judge immediately reverse the transfer order and allow the case to proceed in Kano, where it was properly filed,” Agu said.
The lawyer also challenged the President to defend the allegations on their merits rather than seek a change in the division where the action was instituted.
CFRPA said the case raises questions under Sections 131 and 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution, with Section 137(1)(j) providing for disqualification from the office of President where a person has presented a forged certificate to INEC.
The group’s allegations form part of renewed controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s credentials ahead of the 2027 election.
TNL had earlier reported that Babatunde Ogala, SAN, a former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress and a lawyer for Tinubu, rejected allegations that the President forged his credentials, stressing that no court had made such a finding. (TheNigeriaLawyer)
Ogala also confirmed at the time that Kalu Kalu had a pending action at the Federal High Court in Kano concerning the President’s credentials and that the defendants had joined issues with the plaintiff. (TheNigeriaLawyer)
The fresh controversy therefore concerns where the pending action should be heard, rather than any determination of the substantive allegations concerning the President’s credentials.
President Tinubu’s legal team has not, in the material supplied announcing Agu’s protest, publicly responded to the allegations of bias and forum shopping arising from the transfer.
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