A Nigerian court has imposed a fine on a former presidential candidate from the 2019 election for filing a lawsuit aimed at halting the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu on 29th May.
The court has ordered Ambrose Owuru, a lawyer, to pay a sum of $87,000 (£80,000) for pursuing a “strange” and “frivolous” suit.
Mr Owuru, who contested and lost in the 2019 presidential election, had petitioned the court to order his own swearing-in as president instead of Mr Tinubu.
The lawyer, who did not participate in the 2023 presidential election, claimed that he had emerged as the winner of the 2019 presidential poll but was unjustly denied his victory.
In October 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed the suit, describing it as an abuse of the court process.
Following the announcement of Mr Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election, Mr Owuru filed another lawsuit based on the facts of his 2019 case.
On Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in the capital city of Abuja unanimously dismissed the suit.
