Justice Ugo: Top Judge Handling Petitions Seeking to Nullify Election of Tinubu Resigned? Fact Surfaces
- A claim is gaining traction on social media about the purported resignation of Justice Boloukuoromo Ugo, a judge at the Nigerian court of appeal
- The claim comes days after similar unsubstantiated speculation was made about Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)
- The claim about Justice Ugo releasing a statement, speaking about siding with President Bola Tinubu, and stepping down, is fabricated
FCT, Abuja - The court of appeal, on Thursday, July 20, debunked the news that a member of the five-member panel, Justice Boloukuoromo Ugo, that is handling petitions seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, resigned.
A high-ranking official of the court, who spoke to Vanguard, described the information as “fake news”, pointing out that it was the handiwork of “evil rumour mongers.”
Source: Facebook
Did Justice Ugo release statement alleging plot to subvert justice? Fact emerges
The source, who prefers not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press, maintained that “no such thing happened.”
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He said:
“I can authoritatively tell you that there was nothing like that.
“In fact, we were shocked when our attention was drawn to the fake news."
He added:
“I believe that unless someone is made a scape goat, this fake news trend will continue.”
Meanwhile, in another report, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) invalidated the viral claim that Justice Ugo released a statement alleging a plot to subvert justice in the ongoing election petition tribunal.
FIJ said the claim first emanated from The Igbo Times Magazine, an online platform popular for publishing articles about pro-Igbo culture and making unsubstantiated claims.
According to The Igbo Times Magazine, Ugo issued a statement saying “he was asked to ‘cripple the independence of the judiciary’ by ruling in favor of a certain political candidate, whom he did not name but is widely believed to be Bola Tinubu, the front-runner in the upcoming presidential election.”
This claim has been circulated by Twitter users and several blogs.
However, scrutinies by Vanguard newspaper and FIJ showed that there are no public records to confirm the resignation of Justice Ugo. Therefore, the claim that Justice Ugo released a statement alleging that he was being cajoled into subverting justice at the tribunal is false.
CJN Ariwoola breaks silence on alleged phone call with President Bola Tinubu
In a piece of related news, Legit.ng reported that the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, denied the allegation that he had a telephone conversation with President Bola Tinubu over petitions seeking to nullify the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
The CJN, through a statement issued by the supreme court on Wednesday, July 19, said he equally did not speak with the director-general (DG) of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi.
Source: Legit.ng
