Frivolous Suits: S’Court Imposes N5m Fine On Ex-presidential Candidate

The Supreme Court has imposed a N5 million fine on a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Owuru, for harassing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a frivolous and vexatious suit.

Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji issued the order against the former presidential candidate, dismissing his fresh suit and praying for Tinubu’s removal as Nigeria’s president.

Apart from the N5m fine, the apex court ordered its Registry not to accept any frivolous originating summons from Owuru again.

During the proceedings, Owuru, who claimed to be a lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, sought to argue his case wearing his wig and gown.

He was ordered out of the Bar and directed to remove his wig and gown before he could argue his case.

Upon complying with the orders, Owuru was asked why he came before the court again, having had his suits dismissed three times.

Although he tried unsuccessfully to convince the Apex Court to grant him adequate audience, his explanations were rejected as unconvincing.

Following his recalcitrance, the court threatened to refer him to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee LPDC.

Justice Abba-Aji ruled that Owuru’s conduct was unbecoming of a lawyer of over 40 years, as he claimed to be.

Ultimately, the court dismissed his suit and ordered him to pay Tinubu N5 million.

The court lambasted him for taking the Supreme Court for a ride, wasting its precious time with baseless suits, and grossly abusing court processes.

Before the suit was thrown out, Bode Olanipekun SAN, who appeared for President Tinubu, had drawn the court’s attention to several cases of Owuru that were dismissed on account of frivolity.

He added that the direction of the fresh suit could not be understood because of the poor manners in which the applicant couched it.

Olanipekun SAN also said that it was difficult for him to apologise to the court on behalf of Owuru because the applicant’s conduct had become unbearable in the legal profession.

In his response, Taiwo Osipitan, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, assured that the former presidential candidate’s conduct would be referred to the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal had previously fined Owuru N40 million, to be paid to Tinubu, INEC, and others for filing a suit against them.

The new suit, marked SC/CV/667/2023, prayed to the Apex Court to sack Tinubu on two principal grounds: alleged non-qualification to hold office as Nigeria’s President and alleged usurpation of the office in contravention of the law.

Defendants in the suit were former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.

Owuru, a British-trained lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election but alleged that Buhari usurped his tenure for eight years.

He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court, which would have removed Buhari from office, was technically jettisoned by the Apex Court due to a mix-up in hearing dates.

He also prayed the Apex Court to disqualify Tinubu on account of the forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over an alleged drug trafficking-related offence.

Besides the alleged forfeiture, Owuru accused Tinubu of being an active agent of the CIA, a position he claimed disqualified Tinubu from holding the office of President of Nigeria.

Specifically, Owuru prayed the Supreme Court to invoke Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to remove Tinubu from office on the grounds of being controlled by foreign authorities.

He also asked the Supreme Court to declare him Nigeria’s President and order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his alleged usurped mandate.