Three litigants and their attorney were fined N17 million by Justice James Omotoso of a Federal High Court in Abuja for filing a frivolous lawsuit to prevent Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration.
Praise Ilemona, Pastor Paul Issac Audu, and Dr. Anongu Moses, who jointly filed the lawsuit and prayed for an order to stay Tinubu’s inauguration as president on May 29, were each fined by the court.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), one of the seven defendants in the lawsuit, will receive another N5 million, and the three litigants will pay the President-elect a total of N10 million.
In addition, Justice Omotoso mandated that a yearly interest charge of 10% be added to the judgment debt until it is fully liquidated.
Daniel Elomah, the plaintiffs’ attorney, was ordered to give N1m to Tinubu and the APC for filing the lawsuit, which the court deemed to be vexatious.
Elomah had vociferously advocated for his clients’ release at the Friday’s sessions and suggested that the court counsel them against pursuing frivolous lawsuit in the future.
Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, a legal eminence and Tinubu’s attorney in the case, had urged for the dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds that the three plaintiffs lacked locus standi to bring it.
The senior attorney informed the court that none of the plaintiffs had cast a ballot in the primary that resulted in the President-elect instead choosing to target, threaten, and annoy Tinubu by filing the frivolous lawsuit.
Fagbemi SAN further stated that by filing many lawsuits against Tinubu and the APC in various courts without having a valid claim, the litigants had engaged in flagrant abuse of the legal system.
A former presidential candidate in the 2019 elections, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, who also sought to stop Tinubu’s inauguration on the grounds that he won the election and should be inaugurated as President instead of Tinubu, was fined N40 million by the Court of Appeal in Abuja just 24 hours prior to the Federal High Court’s ruling.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was allegedly misled regarding Bola Tinubu’s age and citizenship status by the three plaintiffs in their dismissed lawsuit, which tried to halt the May 29 inauguration.
In a decision on Friday, Justice Omotosho ruled that the lawsuit brought by Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu, and Anongu Moses was frivolous and a misuse of the legal system.
The judge ruled that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi to bring the lawsuit, and further stated that the court lacked authority to hear it since it involved a presidential election.
Justice Omotosho’s decision comes approximately 40 minutes after the Supreme Court rejected a different lawsuit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sought to invalidate Tinubu and vice-president-elect Kashim Shettima’s candidacy due to Shettima’s claimed double nomination.
