Tinubu Wins Last Legal Battle Over His Election Victory, Gets Awarded ₦5 Million In Damages

The Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed a lawsuit on Monday seeking President Bola Tinubu‘s removal from office.

The five-judge court unanimously decided. Chief Ambrose Owuru, the plaintiff, was also fined ₦5 million.

Owuru was the Hope Democratic Party (HDP’s) presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.

Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, who led the panel of justices, warned the court’s Registry not to accept any more “frivolous” cases from Owuru.

In his lawsuit, Owuru claimed that President Tinubu is “an active agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA,” which he argued makes Tinubu unfit for the presidency.

He also alleged that Tinubu had previously forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government in a drug-related case.

Owuru called for the Supreme Court to disqualify Tinubu based on these claims, stating that Tinubu was under foreign influence. He insisted that the court invoke section 157 of the 1999 Constitution and remove Tinubu from office.

The case marked SC/CV/667/2023 also included former President Muhammadu Buhari as a defendant. Owuru declared that Buhari’s time in office was equally illegal.

During the hearing, Owuru argued that he was the legitimate winner of the 2019 presidential election. He claimed that Buhari had “hijacked” his mandate and that the Supreme Court mishandled his earlier case against Buhari.

The lawsuit also included the Attorney General of the Federation and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

When Owuru began his argument wearing a lawyer’s wig and gown, the justices ordered him to remove them before he could speak. The panel questioned why he would re-file a suit already dismissed three times.

Owuru stated that his previous suit was dismissed due to a mere technicality regarding the hearing dates, not the substance or merit of his submissions.

He sought the Supreme Court to declare him president and order his immediate inauguration.

But the justices would not hear any of that. They criticized him, saying it was “unbecoming of a lawyer with over 40 years in practice,” and threatened to refer his case to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for further action.

This is not the first encounter Owuru, the British-trained lawyer, had with the Nigerian justice system over this case.

Last year, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal dismissed his case as “frivolous” and fined him ₦40 million. He then sought final adjudication at the Supreme Court.

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