The National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Court of Appeal have dismissed as false and unfounded, reports claiming the mysterious deaths of two justices who served on the panel that upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election.
Rumours circulating on social media suggested that Justices Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf and Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo, members of the five-man panel on the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal passed away under suspicious circumstances.
According to these viral claims, Justice Bolaji-Yusuf was reportedly found unresponsive the morning after appearing healthy the previous evening, while Justice Ugo allegedly died in the early hours following a loud disturbance from his room, with family members discovering him bleeding and unresponsive.
However, the NJC, in a statement by its Secretary, Ahmed Gambo Saleh, categorically refuted the claims. “Please ignore the news; it is a lie. The Justices are alive, well, and doing their jobs,” Saleh stated, assuring the public of the well-being of both judicial officers.
An unnamed senior official from the Court of Appeal who spoke to Vanguard also condemned the rumours as “the handiwork of mischief makers,” stating, “It is totally false and mischievous. Their Lordships are well and in good health. It is most unfortunate that some individuals would spread such baseless claims, wishing ill on others.”
Justices Bolaji-Yusuf and Ugo were part of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that, on September 6, 2023, affirmed President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the legitimate winners of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
In their ruling, the justices dismissed petitions filed by opposition leaders Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who challenged the election’s outcome.
