Appeal Court adjourns for judgment in suit to stop Tinubu's inauguration

Saturday, 20 May 2023 04:26

Appeal Court adjourns for judgment in suit to stop Tinubu's inauguration

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday adjourned indefinitely a suit seeking to stop Bola Tinubu from being sworn-in as president on 29 May.

It comes barely 10 days to the scheduled swearing-in of the president-elect.

Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won Nigeria’s 25 February presidential election, defeating former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.

But a former presidential candidate of the defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Ambrose Owuru, who claimed he was deprived of his victory in the 2019 election, filed a suit that asked for a court order to stop Tinubu’s inauguration.

He urged the court to order him to be sworn in as president instead of Tinubu to compensate for the injustice of depriving him of his acclaimed victory in 2019.

Owuru, a serial presidential candidate, did not contest the 2023 presidential election. His party has been deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He lost at the Federal High Court, and then proceeded to appeal at the Court of Appeal.

After taking the arguments of lawyers to parties in the suit on Friday evening, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal headed by Jamil Tukur, adjourned indefinitely to deliver judgement.

Tukur said a date for verdict would be sent to parties in the suit.

Buhari, AGF ignored proceedings

At the resumed proceedings on Friday, neither Buhari nor the Attorney-General was represented in court.

Despite being served with a hearing notice, Buhari whose second term as president ends on 29 May, did not file any court papers.

But the electoral umpire’s lawyer, Hassan Halilu, urged the court to dismiss the suit for being frivolous.

Owuru claims to be the adjourned “constitutional winner” of the 2019 presidential election.

Halilu further informed the court that Owuru’s case “is baseless and irritating.”

Tinubu’s lawyer, Adelani Ajibade from the law firm of Wole Olanipekun, argued that Owuru’s suit “is strange and baseless”.

He said the plaintiff’s case is bereft of merit and should be dismissed.

The lawyer informed the court that Owuru’s claim to have won the 2019 had been dismissed by a Supreme Court judgment which nullified his petition filed challenging Buhari’s victory.

Ajibade prayed for a dismissal of the case with N20 million cost to be imposed on Owuru and in favour of the respondents.