The Court of Appeal on Wednesday debunked reports that names of dead and retired judges are on the list of the 250 Judges sworn-in as Chairmen and members of the 2019 Election Petition Tribunal. The 250 judges were sworn on Saturday by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, few hours after President Muhammadu Buhari suspended the Walter Onnoghen.
In a statement made available to newsmen by the Media Officer, Mrs Sa’adatu Musa Kachalla, the Court of Appeal said the media report was false in its entirety as the list was drawn with input from Chief Judges of states and Nigerian Bar Association.
Her statement read
“The attention of the Court of Appeal has been drawn to a malicious publication making the rounds in some portals that the names of 10 dead Judges featured in the list of the 250 Judges sworn-in on 26 January 2019, as Chairmen and Members of the Election Petition Tribunal.
“In view of the above, we wish to state that there was no name of a dead or retired Judge on the list we sent to the Supreme Court for the swearing-in ceremony performed by His Lordship the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mr Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed.
‘The Court of Appeal, therefore, finds this claim to be false, misleading and a total misrepresentation of the good intentions of the Hon. President (Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa) aimed at building not only a vibrant judiciary, but an endearing democratic society.
“The Hon. President had painstakingly through the efforts of the states Branches of the Nigerian Bar Association and the Chief Judges of the 36 states selected these men and women of integrity to become members of the Election Petition Tribunal.
“The Court of Appeal, therefore, craves the indulgence of the members of the public to disregard this fake News in its entirety.”
