ABUJA, Nigeria – An Abuja Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, fined lawyer Chuks Nwachukwu N20 million on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
Nwachukwu had been representing five residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in a case seeking to stop the swearing-in of President Bola Tinubu.
Justice Ekwo dismissed the case, stating that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to bring the matter before the court.
The judgment read: “I make an order striking out this action on grounds of lack of locus standi of the plaintiffs, lack of jurisdiction of the court and failure of the plaintiffs to demonstrate to this court that a similar subject is not pending before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, whose proceedings are ongoing.”
Justice Ekwo ordered Nwachukwu to pay N10 million each to the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, the 1st and 2nd defendants in the case. Until the fine is settled, no further action will be permitted on the matter.
Reacting to Nwachukwu’s media comments, the judge stated that had the lawyer been present in court, he would have been barred from practising pending his appearance before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
The five FCT residents – Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Uche, Osang Paul, and Chibuike Nwanchukwu – who filed the suit were seeking an order to stop the inauguration of Tinubu and his vice, Sen. Kassim Shettima, set for May 29, 2023.
The plaintiffs claimed that Tinubu failed to secure at least 25% of votes cast in the FCT and hence sought to prevent the swearing-in of any candidate in the February 25 presidential election.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Ekwo criticized Nwachukwu for procuring innocent citizens to act as fronts in litigations, which the judge considered the lawyer’s personal cases.
He further denounced the action as “reckless, frivolous, and displaying a complete lack of knowledge of the elementary principle of law as it relates to the Constitution and Electoral Act, 2022.”
Justice Ekwo also condemned Nwachukwu for accusing him in the media of avoiding delivering the judgment and threatening to take him to the Supreme Court.
He clarified that he was unable to hear the matter on May 26, 2023, because he was on official duty.
