The Federal High Court in Abuja has imposed fines on five residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who sought to prevent the inauguration of Bola Tinubu as president.
It was gathered that Justice Inyang Ekwo, who presided over the case on Tuesday, dismissed the suit and ordered the lawyer representing the residents to pay a fine of N10 million each to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The plaintiffs, namely Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Ucheh Osang Paul, and Chibuike Nwanchukwu filed the suit on behalf of themselves and other residents and registered voters in the FCT.
They argued that Tinubu failed to secure a minimum of 25 percent of the votes cast in the FCT.
The case, with the reference FHC/ABJ/CS/578/2023, was filed on April 28.
The plaintiffs sought the court’s determination on whether the individual elected as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, consequently, the administrator of the FCT needed to obtain at least 25% of the votes cast in the FCT as required by section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Additionally, the plaintiffs requested an extension of former President Buhari’s tenure and sought to set aside the certificate of return issued to Tinubu. They also urged the court to restrain the CJN and any other judicial officer from administering the oath of office to Tinubu.
In ruling on the case, Justice Ekwo determined that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to file the suit.
The judge stated that such matters should be brought before the presidential election petition tribunal rather than the Federal High Court.
