Court charge N40m fine on ex-presidential candidate for attempting to stop Tinubu’s inauguration

Ahead of May 29 swearing-in, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has fined a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Owuru, N40m for filing a frivolous suit seeking to stop the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

The Court ordered Owuru to pay the sum of N10m each to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Tinubu.

Justice Jamil Tukur, who read the lead judgment of the three-man panel of the court, held that Owuru embarked on a gross abuse of court process by filing a frivolous suit to provoke the respondents.

The Court of Appeal held that the grievances of Owuru against the 2019 presidential election were not only strange but uncalled for because the grievances had been pursued up to Supreme Court and were dismissed for want of merit.

Justice Tukur said that the action of Owuru to resuscitate the case that died since 2019 at the Supreme Court, was aimed at making the lower courts go on collision course with supremacy of the Apex Court.