Court Rules Case Stopping Tinubu’s Swearing-in

An order of interim injunction seeking to stop the scheduled swearing-in of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as President of Nigeria, on May 29 Federal High has been dismissed by the Court sitting in Abuja.

In a decision handed down by Justice James Omotosho on Friday, the court ruled that it lacked the necessary authority to grant the prayer that was included in an ex-parte application that three persons who called themselves Concerned Nigerians presented before it.

Vanguard reports that the plaintiffs- Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu and Dr Anongu Moses- had in their suit marked: FHC/ABJ/C5/657/2023, alleged that Tinubu, who was declared the winner of the presidential election that held on February 25, lied on oath in the Form EC9 he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualifications to contest the election.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs told the court that the President-elect falsely declared that he was not a citizen of any other country, despite the fact that he owned a Guinean Passport. 

On the subject of education, the plaintiffs informed the court that their inquiries had shown that Tinubu, who studied at Chicago University in the United States of America, was a female.

In addition, they said that although the President-elect claimed to have been born in 1957, it was later determined that his true birthdate was 1952.

They claimed that Section 117 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 156 of the Penal Code Act were both flagrantly violated by Tinubu’s behaviour.

As a result, the parties involved asked the court, among other things, to issue a warrant for Tinubu’s arrest, keep him in custody, and prevent him from taking the oath of office while the matters before the Presidential Election Petition Court are being resolved.

However, in its decision, the court stated that the lawsuit was “unconstitutional, frivolous, and vexatious,” adding that as the plaintiffs lacked locus standi (legal standing) to bring the action, it also lacked jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit.

The court emphasized that only a candidate might contest a candidate’s eligibility or nomination for office under section 285 (14) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Meanwhile, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, the Supreme Court also  affirmed the eligibility of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to contest the presidential election that was held on February 25 

They held that an appeal the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, filed to challenge the legality of Tinubu’s candidacy, lacked merit.