On Monday, May 8, 2023, a Twitter User with the handle @Kunmydrey tweeted the names of five Court of Appeal Judges that will preside over the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal (PEPT) attached with their alleged pictures.
The tweet reads: “These are the 5 Court of Appeal Judges that will preside over the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal (PEPT) 1. Justice Haruna Simon 2. Justice Stephen Adah 3. Justice Abba Mohammed 4. Justice Joseph Ikyegh 5. Justice Monica Dongban- Mensem (Appeal Court President) Justice Shall Prevail #EyesOnTheJudiciary.”
This tweet has generated 3 comments, 64 retweets, 161 likes and it has been viewed by 9104 Twitter users.
However, a Tweetdeck search revealed that this particular tweet and accompanying images were first tweeted by a user with the handle @MissPearls and has been tweeted in the same format by ten other users.
VERIFICATION
N-VA extracted the claim, “the names of the said five judges and their images.” The researcher went on to fact-check and verify the authenticity of this claim.
In the course of verifying the images attached to the tweet, the researcher discovered that the picture of the only female placed at the centre of the five alleged judges was that of the President, Court of Appeal, Hon Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem. This was revealed through a Google reverse image search which suggested matching Images.
The images of the other judges such as Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, Justice Stephen Adah, Justice Abba Mohammed and Justice Joseph Ikyegh were verified as true, according to official pictures on the Court of Appeal website.
However, a news story published today by Channels TV titled, “Photos: Presidential Election Tribunal Begins Pre-Hearing,” revealed that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Court of Appeal consist of a five-member panel of judges.
The news report stated that the five-member panel will be headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani. Other panel members include Justice Stephen Adah, Justice Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf, Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo and Justice Abbah Mohammed.
CONCLUSION
The claim that the names with attached images listed in the circulating tweet represents the five-member panel of judges of the PEPT is MISLEADING. The list published from the tribunal sitting excluded Justices Dongban-Mensem and Ikyegh.
