The National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Court of Appeal have denied reports of the mysterious deaths of two of the justices who upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu in 2023.
According to the NJC and the Court of Appeal, these claims are false and misleading.
The rumours suggested that two of the five justices on the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal—Justice Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf and Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo—died under suspicious circumstances. Social media posts claimed Justice Bolaji-Yusuf was found dead just hours after appearing to be in good health. Another rumour stated that Justice Ugo allegedly passed away following strange noises from his room, with family members reportedly finding him bleeding and unresponsive.
However, the NJC in a statement by its Secretary, Ahmed Gambo Saleh, labelled the reports as completely false.
“Please ignore the news; it is a lie. The Justices are alive, well, and doing their jobs,” Saleh assured the public.
Additionally, a senior official from the Court of Appeal condemned the rumours. The official described them as “the work of mischief-makers” and said that the justices were in good health.
It should be recalled that the panel of judges which upheld the election results of the February 25, 2023, presidential election, declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the legitimate winner. The tribunal dismissed petitions from opposition candidates Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who both contested the results.