Fined N40m for attempting to obstruct Tinubu’s inauguration, former presidential candidate

Ambrose Owuru was required to pay the fine associated with the frivolous lawsuit, according to the Appeal Court.

Ambrose Owuru, a previous candidate for president, was fined N40 million by the Court of Appeal in Abuja for launching a bogus lawsuit to halt the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu on May 29.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, President Muhammadu Buhari, and Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami were each ordered by the court to receive N10 million from Owuru.

When Owuru filed a frivolous lawsuit to embarrass the respondents, Justice Jamil Tukur, who read the lead decision from the three-person court panel, found that Owuru had engaged in a blatant abuse of the legal system.

The appeals court determined that Owuru’s complaints against the 2019 presidential election were unjustified and odd since they had already been taken all the way to the Supreme Court and were rejected for lack of substance.

The step taken by Owuru to revive the matter, which had been dead at the Supreme Court since 2019, was, according to Justice Tukur, intended to put subordinate courts in direct conflict with the Apex Court’s authority.

Background

Owuru, the defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP) candidate for president in the 2019 presidential election, had asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stop Buhari, Malami, and INEC from swearing in the new president on May 29.

Because Buhari was declared the victor of the 2019 election by the constitution and has not completed his term as president as required by law, Owuru complained that Tinubu or anybody else should be installed as his successor.

Among other things, Owuru argued that Buhari has been abusing his position since 2019 since the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on his suit from that year in which he disputed Buhari’s alleged proclamation as the election winner.

The adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, who is the subject of the pending appeal, must serve as the administration during any handover ceremony organized and presided over by Buhari on May 29, 2023. This administration is known as the “interim place holder” administration until the hearing and decision of his substantive appeal on the constitutional interpretation of the election.