Supreme Court Rejects Case Challenging Tinubu’s Presidency

A lawsuit to remove President Bola Tinubu from office was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday due to its frivolous and vexatious nature.

In a ruling, a five-member panel of the highest court determined that the lawsuit filed by Chief Albert Owuru, a former Hope Democratic Party (HDP) presidential candidate, was not only ineffective and without substance, but also a waste of the court’s valuable time.

The appellant was later directed to pay the president N5 million as costs for defending the incompetent litigation by the panel, which was presided over by Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji.

Additionally, the supreme court directed its registry to refrain from accepting any more pointless originating summonses from Owuru.

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On March 7, 2019, Owuru and the HDP filed a petition to nullify President Muhammadu Buhari’s election on three grounds: that they were illegally excluded from the poll; that the poll on February 23 was illegal, unconstitutional, and a nullity because INEC lacks the authority to change the results; and that a referendum held on February 16 declared him the winner.

However, the Supreme Court and the 2019 Presidential Election Tribunal rejected the appeal and petition as being without merit and incompetent.

Unsatisfied, Owuru returned last year with a new lawsuit contesting President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as the victor of the 2023 presidential election.

He based his move on the fact that the Supreme Court is still considering a lawsuit against the legitimate occupant of the seat of authority.

According to Owuru, Tinubu has not yet been elected president of Nigeria due to the philosophy of “Lis Pendens.” He further asserted that the 2023 presidential election and its results are unlawful and pointless because of this doctrine.

Owuru asked the Supreme Court to remove Tinubu from office in the case, SC/CV/667/2023, on two main grounds: that he was not qualified to serve as President of Nigeria and that he had usurped the position illegally.

Tinubu was the first defendant in the case, followed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Minister of Justice.

In addition, he asked the Supreme Court to disqualify Tinubu for allegedly forfeiting $460,000 to the United States of America for a crime connected to narcotics trafficking.

Owuru argued that Tinubu was unable to serve as President of Nigeria due to his involvement as an active CIA agent, in addition to the purported forfeiture.

Owuru specifically asked the Supreme Court to use Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to overthrow Tinubu because he was controlled by foreign powers.

In order to recover his purportedly usurped mandate, he further requested that the Supreme Court declare him Nigeria’s president and order his prompt inauguration.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Owuru’s actions were inappropriate for a lawyer with more than 40 years of experience, as he had claimed.

The supreme court further chastised him for wasting its valuable time with a bogus lawsuit and egregiously abusing the legal system.

Owuru was previously fined N40 million by the Court of Appeal for bringing this lawsuit against Tinubu, INEC, and others.