Lawyer Asks Appeal Court to Stop Tinubu’s Inauguration

A court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has been asked in a fresh motion on notice seeking to stop Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from being inaugurated as Nigeria’s new President come on May 29, 2023.

The fresh suit which is marked CA/CV/259/2023 has been instituted by a former Presidential candidate during the 2019 Presidential election who is also a constitutional lawyer, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru and his political party, Hope Democratic Party (HDP).

Owuru, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1982 has plead the Court of Appeal in Abuja to compel in prohibition both 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 politician, who participated in the 2019 presidential poll on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) wants Buhari, the AGF and the INEC stopped from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.

Owuru has claimed to be adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicated his grouse against inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari 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 usurping his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he had challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as winner of the election.

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 the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal, remains and is viewed as an “interim place holder” administration pending the hearing and 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 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 3rd, respectively.

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 the INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr S. O Ibrahim.

The motion filed is supported with an 8-paragraph affidavit asking the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.

The affidavit which was 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 is capable of being rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.

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