The Court of Appeal has categorically refuted the reports claiming the resignation of one of its members, Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo, from the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC). The Chief Registrar of the court, Malam Umar Mohammed Bangari, dismissed the news as false and misleading and urged the public to ignore it completely.
The news of Justice Ugo’s alleged resignation circulated widely on the internet, claiming that he cited demands from the executive branch, which he believed would undermine the country’s democracy, as the reason for stepping down from the bench. According to the purported statement attributed to Justice Ugo, he was asked to rule in favor of a certain political candidate, widely believed to be Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and suppress evidence and dismiss cases that could impact the election.
However, the Chief Registrar, Bangari, clarified that there is no truth to the report. He affirmed that Justice Ugo is still an active member of the panel of Justices handling the petitions brought by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Labour Party (LP), and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, along with the PDP and Atiku Abubakar, are challenging the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Bangari expressed his disappointment that neither his office nor the Information department of the Court was contacted before the false report was published. As of now, Justice Ugo remains on the panel of Justices handling the mentioned petitions, and the Court of Appeal assures the public that the integrity of the judicial process is intact.
