Another suit seeking to truncate the inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s 16th President has again on Friday been thrown out, even as the Federal High Court, Abuja, also awarded a total sum of N17 million costs against the three applicants and their lawyer in the suit.
Describing the suit, which sees to stop the swearing-in of Tinubu on May 29 as Nigeria’s fifth democratic President as being frivolous and abuse of court process, Justice James Omotosho, in a ruling, said the applicants, who were neither candidates nor members of a political party in the election that produced Tinubu as President-elect, lacked locus standi – legal right – to institute the matter.
Justice Omotosho also described the suit as vexatious, holding further that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter, being a post-election matter, which ought to have been filed at the Appeal Court.
The three applicants in the suit, Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu and Dr Anongu Moses, had filed the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/657/2023, where the sued President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, the Inspector-General of Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as first to seventh defendants respectively.
In the motion, dated May 18 and filed May 22, the applicants sought an order of interim injunction restraining the second defendant – Tinubu – from being sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
In a 10-ground of argument attached to the motion, the applicants averred that the APC candidate contested the last presidential election and was declared to have won the poll by the seventh respondent, INEC..
They further averred that although Tinubu was billed to be sworn in as President on May 29, they had uncovered that contrary to the affidavit he deposed to in INEC’s Form EC9, beside being a Nigerian, Tinubu was also a citizen of Guinea Republic, thereby committing the offence of perjury, among others.
