Nigeria: No, Nigeria's Election Petition Tribunal Judge Has Not Resigned Over Pressure to Rule Against Opposition Leader Peter Obi

27 July 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Allwell Okpi

IN SHORT: A report has circulated on social media, claiming one of the five judges in Nigeria's presidential election petition court resigned due to pressure to subvert justice. Judicial officials have debunked the claim.

A report circulating on Facebook and other social media platforms in Nigeria claims that a member of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Boloukuoromo Ugo, has resigned over pressure put on the court to rule against the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the 2023 election.

Obi and his party are challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the PEPC. The court is made up of five judges.

The report begins with the headline: "BREAKING: Justice Ugo Resigns, over pressure to rule against Obi."

The report claims that Ugo released a statement saying "that siding with the government on this matter would be the 'death of Nigeria's democracy', and that he could not in good conscience remain silent. His resignation has sent shockwaves through the country, and raised serious questions about the state of Nigeria's democratic institutions".

Similar claims posted on Facebook can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Has Ugo resigned from the election tribunal because of attempts to compel the judges to rule in favour of Tinubu?

If that were the case, it would show the executive's undue interference in the judiciary, a major development in Nigeria's democracy. We investigated.

Report debunked by multiple judicial officials

The report has been debunked by top officials in Nigeria's judiciary.

The chief registrar of the appeals court, Umar Bangari, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the claim was false and misleading and urged the public to ignore "the fake news in its entirety". The court of appeal serves as the secretariat for election petition courts and tribunals in the country.

An official of the PEPC Kabir Akanbi told the Premium Times that it was not true that Ugo had resigned from the tribunal. "It is not true that my Lord, Honourable Justice Ugo resigned from the Presidential Election Petition Court," Akanbi was quoted as saying.

The claim that Ugo resigned was not reported by any credible media organisation and it is not supported by any evidence.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Africa Check. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.