The Court of Appeal in Abuja issued a significant penalty of N40M against Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, a former presidential candidate, for filing a baseless lawsuit in an attempt to prevent the inauguration of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29.
The Appellate Court ruled that Owuru must pay a fine of N10M each to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu, who were named as the 1st to 4th defendants in the lawsuit.
Justice Jamil Tukur, who delivered the leading judgment on behalf of the three-member panel, stated that Owuru engaged in a severe abuse of the court process by submitting a frivolous, vexatious, and irritating lawsuit with the intention to provoke the respondents.
The Court of Appeal determined that Owuru’s grievances against the 2019 presidential election were not only unfounded but also unnecessary, as they had already been pursued all the way to the Supreme Court and dismissed for lacking merit.
Justice Tukur emphasized that Owuru’s decision to resurrect a case that had been concluded in 2019 by the Supreme Court was a deliberate attempt to create a conflict between the lower courts and the supremacy of the highest court in the land.
