Fresh Case That May Stop President-Elect, Tinubu’s Inauguration Surfaces

Fresh Case That May Stop President-Elect, Tinubu’s Inauguration Surfaces

A presidential candidate of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 election, Chief Ambrose Owuru has asked the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal to stop the May 29 inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a fresh suit marked CA/CV/259/2023, Uwuru, also a legal practitioner, is praying the intermediate court to prohibit President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from inaugurating the 2023 President- elect on May 29.

The plaintiff wants Buhari, AGF and as INEC stopped from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.

He predicated his action on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his tenure as required by law.

Among others, Owuru insisted that President Buhari has been taking over his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as the election winner.

In his motion on notice marked CA/CV/259/2023 just filled at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, Owuru applied for “An order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents and privies to preserve and give due cognizance and abstain from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired Constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election.

He also applied for another order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organized and Superintended by Buhari on 29th May 2023 outside his adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal remains and is viewed as an “interim place holder” administration arranged pending the hearing an determination of his substantive appeal on constitutional interpretation thereof.

Listed as respondents in the motion on notice are President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 3rd respectfully.

The motion on notice filed on his behalf by Mr Odion Peter has been served on President Buhari and AGF through their counsel, Mrs Maimuna Lami Ashiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja while that of INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Mr S. O Ibrahim.

Our correspondent noted that the motion is supported with 8- paragraph affidavit praying the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.

The affidavit deposed to by an Abuja based legal practitioner, Adebayo Anafowode and filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja expressed apprehension that Owuru’s suit against Buhari would be rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.

Part of the affidavit read “That the applicant (Owuru) is the adjudged 1st in time constitutional winner of the February 16, 2019 presidential election reserves the right of first refusal over any later presidential election returns in the face of usurpation of adjudged acquired constitutional rights.”.

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit by the Court of Appeal.