Court Dismisses Ex-Presidential Candidate’s Suit Seeking Buhari’s Sack From Office

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja has dismissed a suit by a former presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) Ambrose Owuru, against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari who was the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election.

The suit seeking the sack of President Buhari was thrown out by the Court on three major grounds which include that the suit constituted a gross abuse of court process, it was statute-barred, and was an affront to the Supremacy of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Justice Ekwo also held that the suit was baseless, frivolous, and vexatious in its entirety.

The plaintiff, Owuru had in the suit applied for an order of the court to declare the presidential seat vacant and swear him in as the authentic winner of that election.

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Albert Owuru wants the court to determine the legality of INEC’S decision in 2019 during which it shifted the election from February 16 to March 23, 2019.

He claimed that INEC acted against the Constitution in an illegal and unlawful way it shifted the presidential poll and that declaration of Mohammadu Buhari as the winner of the unlawful act should be declared null and void and of no effect.

He however asked the Court to declare him as the winner of the poll on the ground that the petition he lodged against Buhari had not been adjudicated upon by the Supreme Court as required by law.

The politician claimed that his petition at the Supreme Court was unjustly dismissed following his absence in the Apex Court due to discrepancies in the hearing dates conveyed to him.

He, therefore, prayed the court to remove Buhari and declare him (Owuru) the authentic President and that Buhari should be compelled to refund all monies he collected as salaries, emoluments, and security votes.

The HDP Presidential candidate also asked the court to order his inauguration for a four-year tenure of office upon removal of Buhari from office and that the Federal High Court should stop INEC from conducting the 2023 presidential election.

Claiming that his tenure is being usurped by President Buhari, the plaintiff prayed that the court should compel Buhari to refund all monies he collected as salaries, emoluments, and security votes.