As Nigerians patiently wait for the final ruling on the petitions challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election scheduled to hold on Wednesday, September 6, our reporter brings you details about the five jurists to deliberate on the final decision.
The Presidential Election petition tribunal will decide on the petition filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party vs. the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and three others. The tribunal will also decide the petition between the Allied Peoples Movement vs the INEC and four others.
Also, the tribunal will decide on the petition between Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vs. the INEC and two others.
On Wednesday, September 6, the five jurists will deliberate and possibly vote to take a final decision, in case there are disagreements on issues thrown up at trial.
Meet The Five Judges To Decide Tinubu, Atiku And Obi’s Fate At Tribunal
The judges presiding over the tribunal are namely:
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal)
Justice Haruna Tsammani was born on November 23, 1959. He hails from Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi State.
The judge obtained his LL.B degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1982.
He attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, for his BL in 1983, and started as a High Court judge in Bauchi State on September 17, 1998.
He was later elevated to the Court of Appeal on July 16, 2010.
He is the longest-serving Justice of the Court of Appeal among the five members of the panel. Tsammani has spent half of his 24 years as a judge on the Court of Appeal bench, which he was elevated to in July 2010.
Tsammani delivered one of the judgements of the Court of Appeal in Abuja that affirmed the second term election of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.
He also delivered the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja that issued the order restraining the Rivers and Lagos state governments from taking action on their bids to collect Value Added Tax (VAT).
Justice Stephen Adah (Court of Appeal, Asaba division)
Justice Stephen Adah, who is the presiding Justice of the Asaba Division of the Court of Appeal, was born on June 13, 1957. He hails from Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Adah obtained his LL.B degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981. He attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, for his BL in 1982.
He was appointed a judge of the Federal High Court on November 12, 1998, and later elevated to the Court of Appeal on November 5, 2012. He served as a member of the three-man panel that granted Obi and Atiku’s motions to serve Tinubu their petitions by substituted means.
Adah delivered the lead judgement of a three-member panel that affirmed the conviction of a former Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye, on 16 November 2018. President Muhammadu Buhari would later grant a widely condemned pardon to Dariye alongside a former governor of Taraba, Jolly Nyame after their conviction and jailing had been affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Justice Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf (Court of Appeal, Asaba Division)
Justice Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf is the only female member of the five-man panel of the court. She was born on August 7, 1959, and hails from Oyo West LGA of Oyo State.
The judge obtained her LL.B degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1983. She attended the Nigerian Law School the following year for her BL certificate.
She was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Oyo State on January 30, 1997, and later elevated to the Court of Appeal on March 24, 2014.
Justice Boloukuoromo Ugo (Court of Appeal, Kano Division)
At 57, Justice Boloukuoromo Ugo is the youngest among the judges on the panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court. He hails from Kolokuma/Opokua Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Justice Ugo obtained his LL.B degree from the University of Calabar in 1989, before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School in Lagos the following year, for his BL certificate. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Bayelsa State on March 21, 2006, and later elevated to the Court of Appeal on March 24, 201
Justice Abba Mohammed (Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division)
Justice Abba Mohammed hails from Kano State. He was born on February 19, 1961.
He obtained his LL.B degree from the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1984, before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School in Lagos the following year, for his BL Certificate in 1985.
Justice Mohammed was appointed a judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in 2010.
After serving for about ten years, he was promoted to the Court of Appeal on June 28, 2021. He was the Chairman of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Tribunal in 2019.
