The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, sanctioned a presidential candidate, Ambrose Owuru, with a fine of N40 million over what the court considered a frivolous suit to stop the inauguration of the newly elected President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on May 29.
Justice Jamil Tukur, reading the lead judgment of the three man panel of the Appeal Court, declared that Owuru engaged in a gross abuse of the court process by filing a frivolous, suit to provoke the respondents.
The Court, therefore, fined him N40 million, ordering Owuru to pay the sum of N10 million each to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Tinubu.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the grievances of Owuru against the 2019 presidential election were not only strange but uncalled for because the grievances had been pursued up to Supreme Court and were dismissed for want of merit.
Justice Tukur maintained that the action of Owuru to resuscitate the case that died in 2019 at the Supreme Court, was aimed at making the lower courts go on collision course with supremacy of the Apex Court.
Owuru, presidential candidate of the defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 presidential election had urged the Court of Appeal Abuja to restrain President Buhari, Malami, and INEC from inaugurating the President-elect on May 29.
