The Supreme Court has imposed a N5 million fine on a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Owuru, for instituting what it described as frivolous and vexatious suits against President Bola Tinubu.

Owuru, who contested the 2019 presidential election against former President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), was ordered to pay N5 million to Tinubu.

Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji issued the order while dismissing his fresh suit seeking Tinubu’s from office of President.

Apart from the N5 million fine, the apex court ordered its Registry not to accept any frivolous suit-originating summons from Owuru again.

At the day’s proceedings, Owuru, who claimed to be a lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, sought to argue his case wearing his wig and gown.

He was ordered out of the Bar and directed to remove his wig and gown before he could be allowed to argue his case.

Upon complying with the orders, Owuru was asked why he came before the court again, having had his suits dismissed three times earlier.

Although he tried unsuccessfully to convince the Apex Court to grant him adequate audience, his explanations were rejected as unconvincing.

Following his recalcitrant attitude, the court threatened to refer him to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).

Justice Aba-Aji ruled that Owuru’s conduct was unbecoming of a lawyer of over 40 years, as he claimed.

In the end, the Court dismissed his suit and ordered him to pay Tinubu N5 million.

The court lambasted him for taking the Supreme Court for a ride, wasting its precious time with baseless suits and grossly abusing court processes.

Before the suit was thrown out, Bode Olanipekun SAN who appeared for President Tinubu had drawn the attention of the court to several cases of Owuru that were dismissed on account of frivolity.

He added that the direction of the fresh suit could not be understood because of the poor ways and manners it was couched by the applicant.

Olanipekun SAN also said that it was difficult for him to apologize to the court on behalf of Owuru because the conduct of the applicant had become something unbearable in the practice of the law profession.

In his own response, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Taiwo Osipitan assured that the conduct of the former presidential candidate would be referred to the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

The Court of Appeal had previously imposed a fine of N40 million on Owuru, to be paid to Tinubu, INEC, and others, for filing a suit against them.

The new suit prayed the Apex Court to sack Tinubu on two major grounds: alleged non-qualification to hold office as Nigeria’s President and alleged usurpation of the office in contravention of the law.

Defendants in the suit were former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.

He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court, which would have removed Buhari from office, was technically jettisoned by the Apex Court due to a mix-up in hearing dates.

He also prayed the Apex Court to disqualify Tinubu on account of the forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over an alleged drug trafficking-related offence.

Besides the alleged forfeiture, Owuru accused Tinubu of being an active agent of the CIA, a position he claimed disqualified Tinubu from holding the office of President of Nigeria.

Specifically, Owuru prayed the Supreme Court to invoke Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to remove Tinubu from office on the grounds of being under the control of foreign authorities.

He also asked the Supreme Court to declare him Nigeria’s President and order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his alleged usurped mandate.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, announced on Monday that the N13 trillion deficit in the N48 trillion 2025 budget would be financed through borrowing.

The minister said this while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The total projected revenue for 2025 stands at N34.8 trillion, out of which the expenditure is projected at 47.9 trillion, an increase of 36.8 per cent from the 2024 estimate.

The deficit for 2025 is projected at 13.1 trillion, representing 3.89 per cent of GDP.
Edun said the budget was designed within the context of how far and how much progress that have been made under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, in the last 18 months.

“And even looking at it from an international context, we, like governments around the world, are concerned about how to achieve fiscal sustainability, revenue to expenditure and borrowing that is balanced, to create an environment in which the economy can grow.

“Private sector-led economies such as ours and others, rely on investors to put down their money in various projects, increase productivity, create jobs, grow the economy and in the case of countries such as ours, bring the people out of poverty,” Edun said.

He explained that the Tinubu administration has put in place policies that ensure market pricing of petroleum products, foreign exchange, and efforts had been made to improve the pricing of electricity.

Edun said: “Just recently Shell announced a $5 billion investment, Total announced a multi-billion dollar investment just before that, and there are so many others expressing interest in investing in this country.

“So, progress has been made. There is greater fiscal sustainability and as I said, even the European countries are struggling to achieve some of these critical macroeconomic reforms.

“This budget is based on government spending in critical areas, but also more importantly, encouraging and making room for private sector investment.”
He further stated that the improvements in the economy were encouraging.

“For the first time in about 25 years we have domestic refinement of petrol, not just to produce petrol but also raw materials for industries across a whole range, from pharmaceuticals to building products to textiles,” the minister said.

NAN

President Bola Tinubu has once again pleaded with Nigerians to to endure the hardship and pains his reforms and policies have inflicted on them, promising that his administration has its hands on the plough to quickly alleviate their sufferings.

Tinubu gave the assurance on Saturday, during the 48th convocation ceremony of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, emphasising that his government would ensure that every citizen benefits, by correcting the mistakes of past administrations, promising not to engage in blame games but commit to improving the country through his economic reforms.

The president, who was represented at the event by the Special Adviser on Economy, Office of the Vice President, Tope Fasua, acknowledged that he is aware of the harsh economic situation of the country, and begged Nigerians to endure what he described as unintentional hardship, adding that he does not take pleasure in inflicting pains on Nigerians but assured there was light at the end of the tunnel as his reform policies were aimed at making Nigeria works for everyone.

“Fellow Nigerians, I am not unaware of the harsh economic situation of our country neither do I take pleasure in inflicting pains and anguish on my compatriots,” the President said in his keynote address at the convocation.

“However, we were faced with the stark reality of the results of some policies hitherto executed by past administrations but which had no direct positive impact on the generality of our people.

“Our reform policies are aimed at making Nigeria work for everyone, but the pains that come with the reform must be endured in the meantime.

“We have gladly accepted the assets and liability of our heroes’ past without any intention of apportioning blame or pointing an accusing finger at any individual or group of people.

“As we are trying to fix, reconfigure, and correct past mistakes and errors, we implore all Nigerians to cooperate with us, to endure this unintentional hardship so that; like the graduates of today, we all can celebrate and be celebrated at the end of the day. I am certainly seeing the light at the end of our tunnel.”