A retiring Supreme Court justice has disclosed that members of a panel that decided the 2019 Imo State governorship election dispute were placed on a United States visa ban, a restriction that remains in force.
Justice Uwani Abba-Aji made the revelation on Friday during a valedictory session marking her retirement from the apex court after reaching the mandatory age of 70. She described the ban as one of the consequences of a judgment that was widely misinterpreted.
“My time on the Supreme Court bench was filled with challenges, some of which have served as additional opportunities to stand firm on the side of justice, regardless of the consequences,” she said. “One of such challenging judgments was widely misinterpreted and led to a travel ban to the United States of America being imposed on all members of the panel, a ban which still holds today.”
She added that such inconveniences were “a small price to pay to preserve the chastity of justice.”
Justice Abba-Aji did not name the specific case.
However, the judgment in question was the Supreme Court’s decision of January 14, 2020, in the Imo governorship election petition. A seven-member panel led by then Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad nullified the election of Peoples Democratic Party candidate Emeka Ihedioha and ordered the immediate swearing-in of All Progressives Congress candidate Hope Uzodimma, who had finished fourth.
The panel, which included current Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Justice Abba-Aji, vacated concurrent rulings of the Court of Appeal and the election petition tribunal that had upheld Ihedioha’s victory. It admitted results from 388 polling units totalling 213,295 votes that had been tendered by a police officer but disowned by the Independent National Electoral Commission. After recomputing the figures in court, the justices declared Uzodimma the winner and ordered that a fresh certificate of return be issued to him.
Other members of the panel were Justices Sylvester Ngwuta, Kayode Ariwoola and Amiru Sanusi. Only Justice Centus Nweze dissented, ordering Ihedioha’s reinstatement and warning that the majority decision would “continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come.” He described the judgment as having been delivered in bad faith. Ihedioha’s subsequent application for a review was refused.
At the same session, Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun praised Justice Abba-Aji’s long career. She noted that the retiring justice had joined the Borno State judiciary in 1973 and served in roles ranging from clerical assistant to higher registrar before her elevation to the Court of Appeal in 2004 and the Supreme Court in January 2019. The CJN highlighted her leadership in the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria and as president of the National Association of Women Judges Nigeria, describing her path as part of the evolution of women’s place on the Nigerian bench.
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