Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, a constitutional lawyer running for president in the 2019 election, and his political party, the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), have filed a new lawsuit with case number CA/CV/259/2023.

Owuru, a 1982 graduate of the Nigerian Bar, has petitioned the Court of Appeal in Abuja to stop President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from swearing in the 2023 President-elect on May 29.

The politician, who participated in the 2019 presidential poll on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) wants Buhari, the AGF and the INEC stopped from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.

Owuru, who claimed to be adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicated his grouse against inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his tenure as required by law.

Among others, Owuru insisted that President Buhari has been usurping his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as the election winner.

In his motion on notice marked CA/CV/259/2023 just filled at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, Owuru applied for “An order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents and privies to preserve and give due cognizance and abstain from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired Constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election.”

He also applied for another order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organized and Superintended by Buhari on 29th May 2023 outside the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal, remains and is viewed as an “interim place holder” administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on constitutional interpretation thereof.

Listed as respondents in the motion on notice are President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 3rd, respectively.

The motion on notice filed on his behalf by Mr Odion Peter has been served on President Buhari and AGF through their counsel, Mrs Maimuna Lami Ashiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, while that of the INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr S. O Ibrahim.

DAILY POST observed that the motion is supported with an 8-paragraph affidavit praying the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.

The affidavit deposed to by an Abuja based legal practitioner, Adebayo Anafowode and filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja expressed apprehension that Owuru’s suit against Buhari would be rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit by the Court of Appeal.

He reacted to the verdict in several tweets on Friday, appealing to his fans not to be worried.

In the tweet with a picture and a caption; “He who laugh(sic) last, laugh best…KOGI Governor loading.”

He said in a second tweet, in the aftermath of the verdict.

“On Tribunal judgement. No cause 4 alarm at all. Even if it went my way they will still go to the Appeal Court. Our mandate can not be taken. We will get judgment at the Appeal Court. There will be fresh election in Kogi West bc I will be Governor. For my Senate mandate no shaking,” he said.

Melaye, who is also gunning for the Kogi governorship post in November believes he “will laugh last’, insinuating that his rival’s victory at the tribunal was pyrrhic because ‘there will be fresh election in Kogi West and he will be governor”.