Suit that Buhari wants to fire will be delivered on Monday

The Supreme Federal Court session in Abuja will deliver a landmark verdict on Monday, January 30 in a lawsuit seeking the removal of President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) from office for alleged illegalities in the 2019 presidential election.

The verdict to be delivered by Judge Inyang Ekwo would also resolve a request to halt the conduct of the 2023 presidential election scheduled for February 25.

A message for the verdict seen by journalists from the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja on Friday indicated that the verdict would be pronounced by Judge Ekwo at 9am.

The notice was served directly to the Federation’s Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN) as the Federation’s Chief Law Officer for President Buhari.

The PUNCH reported that Rivers State-born Hope Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Chief Ambrose Owuru, had taken legal action against Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

However, Owuru, a British-trained constitutional lawyer who was admitted to the Nigerian bar in 1984, asked the Federal Supreme Court to declare him the winner of the poll.

Among other things, he had asked the court to determine the legality of INEC’s decision in 2019, postponing the election from February 16 to March 23.

He claimed that INEC acted against the constitution in unlawful and unlawful ways and manners, the presidential poll had shifted, and Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration as the winner of the unlawful act should be declared null and void and of no effect.

The basis of his claim was based on the fact that the petition he filed against Buhari had not been reviewed by the Supreme Court as required by law.

The politician claimed that his petition to the Supreme Court was unfairly rejected after his absence from the Apex Court due to discrepancies in the hearings he was told.

He therefore prayed that the court would remove Buhari and declare him (Owuru) the authentic president and that Buhari would be forced to pay back all the money he collected as salaries, emoluments and security votes.

The HDP presidential candidate also asked the court to order his inauguration for a four-year term after Buhari was removed from office and that the federal Supreme Court stop INEC from holding the 2023 presidential election.

While claiming that his term had been taken over by President Buhari, the plaintiff prayed that the court would compel Buhari to pay back all the money he collected in salaries, emoluments and security votes.

Judge Ekwo had set January 30 as the ruling date on November 4 last year after the approval of final speeches by Buhari, the AGF, INEC and the plaintiff.