The Supreme Court on Monday in Abuja imposed a N5 million
fine on a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Albert Owuru, for harassing
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a frivolous and vexatious suit.
Owuru, who contested the 2019 presidential election against
former President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party
(HDP), was ordered to pay the N5 million to Tinubu.
Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji issued the order against the
former presidential candidate while dismissing his fresh suit praying for the
removal of Tinubu as Nigeria’s President.
Apart from the N5 million fine, the apex court ordered its
Registry not to accept any frivolous originating summons from Owuru again.
At Monday’s proceedings, Owuru, who claimed to be a lawyer
called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, sought to argue his own case wearing his
wig and gown.
He was ordered out of the Bar and directed to remove his wig
and gown before he could be allowed to argue his case.
Upon complying with the orders, Owuru was asked why he came
before the court again, having had his suits dismissed three times.
Although he tried to convince the Apex Court to grant him
adequate audience, his explanations were rejected as unconvincing.
Justice Aba-Aji ruled that Owuru’s conduct was unbecoming of
a lawyer of over 40 years, as he claimed to be.
In the end, the Court dismissed his suit and ordered him to
pay Tinubu N5 million.
It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal had previously
imposed a fine of N40 million on Owuru, to be paid to Tinubu, INEC, and others,
for filing a suit against them.
The new suit, marked SC/CV/667/2023, prayed the Apex Court
to sack Tinubu on two major grounds: alleged non-qualification to hold office
as Nigeria’s President and alleged usurpation of the office in contravention of
the law.
Defendants in the suit were former President Muhammadu
Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu as 1st to 4th
defendants, respectively.
Owuru, a British-trained lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar
in 1984, insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election but alleged that
his tenure was usurped by Buhari for eight years.
He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court, which would
have removed Buhari from office, was technically jettisoned by the Apex Court
due to a mix-up in hearing dates.
He also prayed the Apex Court to disqualify Tinubu on
account of the forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over an
alleged drug trafficking-related offense.
Besides the alleged forfeiture, Owuru accused Tinubu of
being an active agent of the CIA, a position he claimed disqualified Tinubu
from holding the office of President of Nigeria.
Specifically, Owuru prayed the Supreme Court to invoke
Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to remove Tinubu from office on the
grounds of being under the control of foreign authorities.
He also asked the Supreme Court to declare him Nigeria’s
President and order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his alleged usurped
mandate.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com