Supreme Court Dismisses Suit Against Buhari, Tinubu, Fines Owuru N5m

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed a suit challenging the electoral victories of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 and current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023. The court described the case as “frivolous and vexatious” and imposed a fine of N5 million on the applicant, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, the 2019 presidential candidate of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP).

Case Details

Chief Owuru had filed the suit alleging that he won the 2019 presidential election and that the Supreme Court had wrongfully dismissed his earlier case against Buhari’s re-election and Tinubu’s swearing-in for being statute-barred (filed out of time).

He named Buhari, Tinubu, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents in his appeal.

Owuru’s application sought the Supreme Court’s leave to revisit and restore his dismissed case, which was struck out on January 29, 2024, by the apex court.

Supreme Court’s Verdict

A five-member panel, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, unanimously dismissed the application. The court found it lacking merit, noting that:

• Owuru’s matter had been previously dismissed in 2023 and again struck out earlier this year.
• His current filing was the third attempt to bring the same matter before the court.
• The applicant failed to provide the required “enrolled order” that struck out his earlier appeal.

The court ruled:

“The processes filed by Chief Owuru are frivolous and vexatious, and unbecoming of a Senior Counsel of his years of experience (called to the bar in 1984). This is an abuse of court process and ought to be penalized for taking up so much of the court’s time.”

Fine Imposed

The court ordered Owuru to pay a fine of N5 million to President Tinubu as a penalty for abusing the judicial process.

Conclusion

This ruling underscores the Supreme Court’s commitment to deterring frivolous and repetitive litigation, particularly in politically sensitive cases. The fine aims to discourage similar cases from wasting judicial resources in the future.