- During hearing on Monday, the apex court chided Owuru for filing the suit, describing it as frivolous and vexatious
The Supreme Court has again dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification and removal of president Bola Tinubu from office.
The suit was filled by a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Albert Owuru, who contested the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP).
During hearing on Monday, the apex court chided Owuru for filing the suit despite previous dismissals, describing it as frivolous and vexatious.
In his ruling, Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji ordered Owuru to pay the N5 million to Tinubu and also directed its Registry not reject any frivolous originating summons from the plaintiff again.
At Monday’s proceedings, Owuru, who claimed to be a lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, demanded to argue his own case wearing his wig and gown.
He was directed to exit the Bar and remove his wig and gown before he could be allowed to argue his case.
After complying with the directive, Owuru was asked why he came before the court again, having had his suits dismissed three times.
Although he tried to persuade the Apex Court to heed his plea, his appeals were rebuffed as unconvincing.
Justice Aba-Aji ruled that Owuru’s conduct was unbecoming of a lawyer of over 40 years, as he claimed to be.
In the end, the Court dismissed his suit and ordered him to pay Tinubu N5 million.
It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal had previously imposed a fine of N40 million on Owuru, to be paid to Tinubu, INEC, and others, for filing a suit against them.
The new suit, marked SC/CV/667/2023, asked the Apex Court to remove Tinubu on two major grounds: alleged non-qualification to hold office as Nigeria’s President and alleged usurpation of the office in contravention of the law.
Defendants in the suit were former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.
Owuru, a British-trained lawyer, insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election but alleged that his tenure was usurped by Buhari for eight years.
He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court, which would have removed Buhari from office, was technically jettisoned by the Apex Court due to a mix-up in hearing dates.
He also prayed the Apex Court to disqualify Tinubu on account of the forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over an alleged drug trafficking-related offense.
Besides the alleged forfeiture, Owuru accused Tinubu of being an active agent of the CIA, a position he claimed disqualified Tinubu from holding the office of President of Nigeria.
Specifically, Owuru prayed the Supreme Court to invoke Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to remove Tinubu from office on the grounds of being under the control of foreign authorities.
He also asked the Supreme Court to declare him Nigeria’s President and order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his alleged usurped mandate.
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