Appeal Court Petitioned To Stop Tinubu’s May 29 Inauguration

A fresh petition has been filed before the Court of Appeal, seeking to stop the May 29 inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s next president.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had weeks ago declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate as the February 25th presidential election winner.

Tinubu is billed to be sworn in on May 29, 2023.

However, a suit marked CA/CV/259/2023 has been instituted by a Presidential candidate in the 2019 Presidential election and constitutional lawyer, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, and his political party, Hope Democratic Party (HDP), asking the Court of Appeal in Abuja to halt the anticipated swearing-in event.

Owuru and his party are seeking the court’s order to prohibit President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and INEC, from inaugurating the 2023 President-elect on May 29.

The politician who participated in the 2019 presidential poll on the platform HDP wants Buhari, the AGF, and the INEC to stop taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as the winner.

Owuru, who claimed to be adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election, predicated his grouse against the 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.

He also 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 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 the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject to the pending appeal, remains and is viewed as an “interim place holder” administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on the 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, Naija News understands.

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.

According to Daily Post, the motion is supported with an 8-paragraph affidavit praying to 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 a quick hearing.

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