December 16, 2024
By Ayinde Adeleke and Adedoja Adesoji
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed a lawsuit seeking the removal of President Bola Tinubu from office, describing it as “frivolous”.
The suit, filed by Ambrose Owuru, the presidential candidate of the Hope Democratic Party in the 2019 general election, alleged that President Tinubu is an active agent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America and had forfeited $460,000 to the US Government in a drug-related case.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, the apex court held that the suit was without merit and fined Owuru N5 million.
The court also warned the Registry of the Supreme Court not to accept any frivolous originating summons from the plaintiff again.
Owuru had claimed that President Tinubu’s alleged CIA affiliation and drug-related case made him unfit to occupy the presidential seat.
He also alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had manipulated the outcome of the 2019 presidential election, which he claimed he had won.
However, the Supreme Court panel lambasted Owuru for wasting the court’s time, noting that similar suits filed by him had been dismissed three times previously.
The court also threatened to refer Owuru’s name to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for appropriate sanctions.
This is not the first time Owuru has faced penalties for filing baseless suits. In May 2023, the Court of Appeal imposed a N40 million fine against him for attempting to stop President Tinubu’s swearing-in.
Owuru’s suit had also sought to disqualify President Tinubu and declare him (Owuru) the rightful president.
However, the Supreme Court’s decision has put an end to his hopes of occupying the presidential seat through the courts.
