On November 11, an X user @Tobi_sneh0147 posted a claim that Justices Misitura Bolaji-Yusuff and Boloukuromo Moses Ugo, of the Nigerian Court of Appeal are dead.
@Tobisneh0147 posted the picture of the two judges with the caption: “Breaking News: Two Nigerian judges who declared Tinubu winner in 2023 presidential election found dead in their homes on same day::.”
The claim had garnered about 160 views with 1 comment as of the time this report was published. It was also posted on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
VERIFICATION
Justices Bolaji-Yusuff and Ugo were among five panel members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, that declared President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
When the fact-checker went through the Court of Appeal of Nigeria’s website, Bolaji-Yusuff and Ugo were still listed as current justices, despite the claim that they had died a year before.
Further search revealed that the Secretary of the National Judicial Council, NJC, Ahmed Gambo Saleh had dismissed the claim as false. Saleh’s press statement refuted the claims, saying it is fake news.
He said: “Please ignore the news, it is a lie. The justices are alive, well and doing their jobs,”
Vanguard, Tribune Online and The Punch published Saleh’s statement debunking the claim about the death of the Justices Bolaji-Yusuff and Ugo.
CONCLUSION
The claim that two Nigerian judges were found dead in their homes after declaring Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election, is FALSE. The NJC had released a statement clarifying that the two judges are alive and healthy.
By Mutiat Ahmed
