On 1 March 2023, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the presidential election, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Following INEC’s announcement, opposition parties swiftly contested the election results in court.
On 6 September, the presidential election tribunal rejected the opposition’s challenge, ruling that it lacked merit. The case was heard by five justices, who unanimously upheld Tinubu’s victory.
In November 2024, multiple social media posts have circulated claiming that two of the five justices, Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf and Boloukuromo Moses Ugo, have passed away.
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“BREAKING Two Nigerian Judges Who Declared Tinubu Winner In 2023 Presidential Election Found Dead In Their Homes On Same Day,” reads the headline of one Facebook post dated 6 November.
The post also states that Bolaji-Yusuf and Ugo were found unresponsive by their families. (While the first paragraph uses the word “reportedly,” the headline and the remainder of the story present the information as fact.)
Same claim can be found here, here and here.
But is it true? We checked.
A search of the Court of Appeal’s current justices list revealed that Bolaji-Yusuf and Ugo’s names and photos were still included.
Their profiles would have been removed if they were deceased.
Given the significant involvement of the two justices in the legal battles following Tinubu’s victory, their deaths would have undoubtedly made headlines in both local and international media.
However, we found no such reports.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) of Nigeria and the Court of Appeal have dismissed the claim.
Ahmed Saleh, the NJC secretary, labelled the claim “false”. He told the media: “Please ignore the news, it is a lie. The justices are alive, well and doing their jobs.”
Nigerian news outlets quoted a court of appeal official saying: “It is totally false and mischievous. Their Lordships are well and in good health. It is most unfortunate that mischief makers will sit in a corner and wish death on others. Please ignore the false news.”
The claim that Bolaji-Yusuf and Ugo have been found dead in their homes is false.
The same claim can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Credit: Africa Check
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