On January 30, a Federal High Court in Abuja will give a landmark ruling in a complaint seeking the removal of President Muhammadu Buhari from office due to alleged irregularities in the 2019 presidential election.
The verdict, which is scheduled to be delivered by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, will also address a motion to halt the holding of the 2023 Presidential election.
A notice for the judgment delivery obtained by our correspondent at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja showed that the verdict would be delivered by Justice Ekwo by 9 a.m. on Monday.
The warning was delivered directly to President Buhari’s Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, who serves as the Federation’s Chief Law Officer.
Ambrose Albert Owuru, a presidential candidate for the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 election, filed the lawsuit against Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Among other things, the Presidential candidate requests that the court rule on the legitimacy or otherwise of INEC’s decision in 2019 to move the poll from February 16 to March 23, 2019.
He stated that INEC violated the constitution in illegal and unlawful ways, and that the presidential election was shifted as a result of the illegal conduct, and that the declaration of Mohammadu Buhari as the winner of the unlawful act should be deemed null and void and of no effect.
Owuru, a British-trained constitutional lawyer admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, petitioned the Federal High Court to declare him the poll’s winner.
His allegation was based on the fact that the petition he filed against Buhari had not been heard by the Supreme Court as required by law.
The lawmaker claimed that his suit before the Supreme Court was unjustly dismissed due to his absence from the Apex Court caused by inconsistencies in the hearing dates communicated to him.
As a result, he petitioned the court to remove Buhari and declare him (Owuru) the legitimate President, as well as to order Buhari to refund any sums taken as wages, emoluments, and security votes.
The HDP Presidential candidate further requested that the court direct his inauguration for a four-year term following Buhari’s removal from office, and that the Federal High Court prevent INEC from organizing the 2023 presidential poll.
Following the adoption of final addresses by President Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the plaintiff, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, Justice Ekwo set January 30 as the judgment date on November 4 last year.