Olayiwola Matthew
The National Judicial Council, NJC, has debunked as baseless, report that two Justices that sat on the five-man panel that upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election, died mysteriously.
In the report that has gained traction in the social media, it was alleged that the two judicial officers – Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf and Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo – who are currently serving as Justices of the Court of Appeal, passed away on the same day, without any known medical reasons.
According to the viral claim: “Justice Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf, one of the five judges who presided over the electoral case, was confirmed dead by her family earlier today.
According to family members, she was in good health the previous night before going to bed. However, when they attempted to wake her the following morning, she was unresponsive. The cause of her death remains unknown at this time.
“In a separate but equally troubling incident, Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo was also found dead following a loud noise from his room around 2 a.m. Family members reportedly broke down his door after hearing the disturbance and discovered him bleeding and unresponsive.”
However, in their separate reactions, both the NJC and the Court of Appeal dismissed the report as false news.
The NJC, through its Secretary, Mr. Ahmed Gambo Saleh, assured that the two Justices were alive and at their duty posts.
“Please ignore the news, it is a lie. The Justices are alive, well and doing their jobs,” Mr. Saleh added.
Likewise, a top official of the Court of Appeal who spoke on the issue in confidence, described the report as “handiwork of mischief makers.”
“It is totally false and mischievous. Their Lordships are well and in good health. It is most unfortunate that mischief makers will sit at a corner and wish death on others. Please ignore the false news,” the appellate court official added.
It will be recalled that Justices Bolaji-Yusuf and Ugo were members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that affirmed President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, as valid winner of the presidential election that held on February 25, 2023.
The duo, in their judgement on September 6, 2023, dismissed separate petitions that a former Vice President who was the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi, filed to challenge the outcome of the election.