In a recent development, a Federal High Court in Abuja has imposed a fine of N17M on three litigants and their lawyer for filing a frivolous suit with the aim of preventing the inauguration of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Justice James Omotoso, presiding over the case, imposed the fine on Praise Ilemona, Pastor Paul Issac Audu, and Dr. Anongu Moses, who jointly initiated the suit seeking an order to halt Tinubu’s swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Monday, May 29.
The three litigants are collectively required to pay President-elect Tinubu a sum of N10M, with an additional N5M to be paid to the All Progressives Congress (APC), one of the seven defendants in the case.
Furthermore, Justice Omotoso ordered that a 10% interest be applied annually on the judgment debt until it is fully paid.
Their lawyer, Daniel Elomah, who filed the suit deemed vexatious by the court, was instructed to pay N1M each to Tinubu and the APC.
During the proceedings, the counsel for the litigants pleaded extensively for leniency on behalf of his clients and suggested that the court advise them against pursuing frivolous lawsuits in the future.
Prominent legal expert Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, who represented Tinubu, argued for the dismissal of the suit on the grounds that the three plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to initiate such an action.
The senior lawyer informed the court that none of the plaintiffs participated in the primary election that resulted in Tinubu’s nomination, yet they chose to harass and intimidate him through baseless litigation.
Fagbemi SAN further contended that the litigants engaged in gross abuse of the court system by filing multiple cases against Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in various courts without reasonable cause.
This ruling by the Federal High Court comes just one day after the Court of Appeal in Abuja imposed a N40M fine on former presidential candidate Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, who also attempted to halt Tinubu’s inauguration by claiming he had won the 2019 presidential election and should be inaugurated instead of Tinubu.
The dismissed suit brought by the three plaintiffs sought to prevent the May 29 inauguration by alleging that President-elect Bola Tinubu had provided false information about his age and citizenship status to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Omotoso, in his ruling on Friday, deemed the suit filed by Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu, and Anongu Moses as frivolous and an abuse of the court process.
The judge concluded that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to file the suit, and the court could not exercise jurisdiction over it as it pertained to a presidential election.
This ruling by Justice Omotoso follows closely after the Supreme Court dismissed another suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to invalidate the candidacies of Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima.