Court fines ex-presidential candidate N40m over suit to stop Tinubu’s inauguration

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has rejected an appeal seeking to prevent the swearing-in of President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on May 29.

The court also imposed a fine of N40 million on the appellant, Chief Ambrose Owuru, a former presidential candidate of the defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP).

In its unanimous decision, a three-member panel of the court described Owuru’s appeal as frivolous and an abuse of the judicial process.

Justice Jamil Tukur, delivering the lead judgment, stated that Owuru’s suit aimed to irritate the respondents and was an attempt to resurrect a case that had been dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2019.

The court held that the issues raised by Owuru against Tinubu’s inauguration were related to the presidential election, which had already been decided by the Supreme Court.

Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal and awarded punitive damages against the appellant.

It should be noted that in January, the Federal High Court in Abuja also dismissed Owuru’s suit to remove President Buhari from office, declaring it baseless, frivolous, and vexatious. The court ruled that the suit was statute-barred and a direct affront to the supremacy of the Supreme Court.

Owuru had contested the legality of the election in which President Buhari was re-elected, alleging manifest irregularities. He sought to be declared the authentic winner and requested the court to halt the 2023 presidential election.

However, his claims were dismissed by the courts, and the appellate court has now refused to stop the swearing-in of President-elect Tinubu.

With these legal decisions, the path is clear for President-elect Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29 as scheduled.