Inauguration: Appeal Court awards heavy fine against ex-presidential candidate over ‘strange’ suit

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday awarded a heavy fine against a former presidential candidate in the previous 2019 election cycle who filed a suit to stop the inauguration of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on 29 May.

The court awarded a whopping N40 million as fine against Ambrose Owuru, a lawyer, for pursuing a “strange” and “frivolous” suit.

Mr Owuru, who contested and lost the 2019 presidential election on the platform of his now defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP), had strangely urged the court to order that he be sworn in as president instead of Mr Tinubu.

The lawyer, who did not participate in the last 2023 presidential election, anchored the prayer on the grounds that he won the 2019 presidential poll but was unjustly deprived of his victory.

The former presidential candidate had contested his defeat at the presidential election court and subsequently at the Supreme Court, and lost at both fora.

Dismissing the suit in October 2019, the Supreme Court described it as frivolous and an abuse of court process.

After Mr Tinubu was announced the winner of the 2023 presidential election, Mr Owuru weaved another suit out of the facts of his 2019 case.

He filed the fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, joining President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Mr Tinubu, as the respondents.

He lost the case, but defiantly went on appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

‘Strange, irritating’

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed the suit in a unanimous decision on Thursday,

Reading the lead judgement of the panel, Jamil Tukur said Mr Owuru’s suit was a gross abuse of court process.

The judge said Mr Owuru’s complaint against the 2019 presidential election was not only strange but uncalled for, as his grievances had been pursued up to Supreme Court and was dismissed for want of merit.

Mr Tukur said Mr Owuru’s attempt to resuscitate his dead case could set the lower court on a collision course against the Supreme Court which had made a final pronouncement on it.

The judge said it was therefore an irritating suit deliberately packaged to provoke the respondents.

He went on to order him to pay N10 million fine to each of the four respondents – Mr Buhari, the AGF, INEC and Mr Tinubu. The fine totals N40 million.

Hearing

At the hearing of the appeal last Friday, neither Mr Buhari nor the Attorney-General was represented by a lawyer in court.

Despite being served with a hearing notice, Mr Buhari whose second term as president ends on 29 May, did not file any court papers.

But the electoral umpire’s lawyer, Hassan Halilu, urged the court to dismiss the suit for being frivolous.

Mr Owuru claims to be the adjourned “constitutional winner” of the 2019 presidential election.

Mr Halilu further informed the court that Mr Owuru’s case “is baseless and irritating.”

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Mr Tinubu’s lawyer, Adelani Ajibade from the law firm of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, argued that Mr Owuru’s suit “is strange and baseless”.

He said the plaintiff’s case is bereft of merit and should be dismissed.

The lawyer informed the court that Mr Owuru’s claim to have won the 2019 had been dismissed by a Supreme Court judgment which nullified his petition filed challenging Mr Buhari’s victory.

Mr Ajibade prayed for a dismissal of the case with N20 million cost to be imposed on Mr Owuru and in favour of the respondents.

Owuru’s prayers

The plaintiff urged the court to stop Mr Buhari, the AGF and INEC taking steps to facilitate Mr Tinubu’s swearing-in in 10 days’ time.

Mr Owuru argued that neither Mr Tinubu nor anyone else should succeed Mr Buhari, because he has yet to serve his statutory term of four years as Nigeria’s president.

MR Owuru accused the outgoing president of usurping his tenure since 2019.

He falsely claimed that the Supreme Court had not determined his petition against Mr Buhari’s victory in 2019.

“An order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents … from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired Constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election,” court filings showed Mr Owuru urging the court.

In addition, he sought an order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organized and superintended by Mr Buhari on 29 May 2023 outside his “adjudged winner” of the 2019 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the appellate court evicted Mr Owuru from the inner bar – the front section of the court exclusively reserved for Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).

Upon filing into the courtroom on Friday, the appellate court panel sighted Mr Owuru seated in the reserved seat.

Mr Tukur who led the panel asked Mr Owuru to vacate the seat, wondering when he was conferred the prestigious title of a SAN.

Attempts by Mr Owuru to sway the justices to allow him hold on to the seat were rebuffed.

Mr Owuru was called to the Nigerian Bar 40 years ago.

The lawyer, despite his scanty votes in the previous election, had challenged the outgoing President Buhari’s victory in the 2019 election. His case failed spectacularly as it was dismissed by the Presidential Election Petition Court.

Mr Owuru pursued the case further to the Supreme Court which also dismissed the suit as “a gross abuse of court processes