Supreme Court Slaps Human Rights Activist Mike Ozekhome with N40M Fine for Frivolous Motion

In a significant development, the Supreme Court has imposed a hefty fine of N40 million on Chief Mike Ozekhome, a prominent human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, for filing what the court deemed a frivolous motion related to the Imo Governorship tussle, decisively settled in 2019.

The ruling, delivered by Justice Tijani Abubakar, mandated Ozekhome to personally pay the fine to the four respondents involved in the case.

Justice Abubakar’s ruling characterized Ozekhome’s request as “strange, frivolous, baseless, unwarranted, vexatious, and irritating,” emphasizing that the motion appeared to be a deliberate attempt to demonize the Supreme Court.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, with over 42 years of legal practice, faced the substantial fine for bringing a motion seeking to revalidate the suit that removed Emeka Ihedioha as Governor of Imo State in 2019.

The motion, dismissed by the apex court, aimed to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Mr Ihedioha.

Ozekhome argued that the incumbent governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, had unlawfully occupied the four-year tenure that Mr Ihedioha should have served.

Among other claims, Ozekhome asserted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no valid candidate in the 2019 Imo Governorship election, challenging Uzodinma’s legitimacy.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed the motion, citing a lack of jurisdiction to entertain such claims.

Source: Daily Nigerian