By Anastasia Okechukwu
The Abuja Court of Appeal, on Thursday, May 25 slammed a fine of N40m againsts a former presidential candidate of the defunct Hope Democratic Party, HDP, in the 2019 general election, Chief Ambrose Owuru, for filing a suit seeking to stop the swearing-in of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The appellate court, in a collective decision by a three-member panel, described as frivolous, the appeal, which was brought before it against four respondents and ordered Owuru to pay the fine of N10 million each to the respondents.
Listed 1st to 4th respondents in the suit were; President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Justice Jamil Tukur, who read the case’s lead judgment, concluded that former presidential candidate Owuru had seriously abused the legal system and held that the “strange” lawsuit he brought to prevent Tinubu’s inauguration as president was not only vexatious but also designed to annoy the respondents.
The court held that the issue Chief Owuru had againsts Tinubu’s inauguration had to do with the presidential election that had been held since 2019 and had previously been rejected by the Supreme Court for lack of merit.
It also held that the attempt by the appellants to bring up the case that died since 2019, was aimed at pushing the lower courts to embark on a collision course with the Supreme Court.
As a result, it denied the appeal and fined the appellant for damages.