The Court of Appeal on Thursday squashed circulating reports that a member of the five-person panel handling petitions seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu had resigned.
A high-ranking official at the court, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak to the media, spoke with Vanguard, categorizing the news as “fake”.
The source adamantly affirmed, “no such thing happened,” attributing the misinformation to the work of “evil rumour mongers.”
He said: “I was with some members of the panel yesterday and 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. The true position is that parties in the petitions were given time to file and exchange their final written address. They are already doing that.
“Once the process is completed, the panel will communicate a date for the parties to appear in court to adopt their processes after which the petitions will be fixed for judgment.
“So, it is absurd for someone to sit in a corner of his room and concoct lies from the figment of his or her imagination.
“In fact, our attention was equally drawn to another fake news that a former Governor of Rivers State held a meeting with members of the court, outside the country.
“These are very laughable. How can the honourable justices on the panel travel abroad when they have enormous work pending on their desks?
“Please ignore the fake news. It is very unfortunate. Hopefully, before the end of the day, the Appeal Court will issue a formal statement on the matter.
“I believe that unless someone is made a scapegoat, this fake news trend will continue.”
Social media is abuzz with rumours suggesting that Justice Boloukuoromo M. Ugo, a member of the presidential election petition court, resigned in an “unprecedented move” due to alleged pressure from the Executive arm of the government, which he feared could endanger the country’s democracy.
According to these circulating reports, Justice Ugo claimed that siding with the government in the case currently before the court would be the “death of Nigeria’s democracy.”
He reportedly stated that he felt he could not remain silent on the matter.
These reports also imply that Justice Ugo was instructed to “cripple the independence of the judiciary” by ruling in favour of President Tinubu and that the panel was directed to suppress evidence and dismiss all petitions against the President.
However, it’s important to note that Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kayode Ariwoola, similarly denied rumours on Wednesday that he had a phone conversation with President Tinubu concerning petitions aiming to oust him from office.
