Headline

Presidential Tussle: 7 Supreme Court Justices Who’ll Decide Tinubu, Atiku, Obi’s Fate Today

Published

2 years ago

October 26, 2023

The die is cast. The legal fisticuffs over the February 25 presidential election will be concluded today as a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court rules on the appeals of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi challenging the election of President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and Obi, his Labour Party, LP, counterpart, are seeking to nullify the election of President Tinubu, who contested on the banner of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The two lost their quest to stop Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, on September 6 and consequently approached the apex court, which heard their appeals, on Monday. All the parties -Atiku, PDP, Obi, LP, Tinubu, APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, adopted their final briefs of argument on Monday and the court led by Justice Inyang Okoro reserved its judgment.

The apex court communicated today’s judgment date to all the parties, yesterday, through a notice signed by one of its Registrars.

The seven justices who will take the landmark decision today are Inyang Okoro, Uwani Abba-Aji, Lawal Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani and Emmanuel Akomaye Agim.

Atiku and Obi are challenging the INEC’s declaration that Tinubu of the ruling APC, was the valid winner of the February 25 presidential election, and are praying the apex court to set aside the September 6 judgment of the PEPC, which dismissed their allegation that the election was rigged in favour of the APC.

Apart from challenging President Tinubu’s eligibility to participate in the contest, Atiku, who came second and Obi who came third, maintained that Tinubu did not secure the majority of valid votes cast during the election to be declared the winner.

Though five petitions were initially entered against the declaration of President Tinubu as winner of the presidential contest that involved 17 candidates, only three of the petitions made it to the apex court.

Whereas two of the petitions were withdrawn before they could even be heard by the PEPC, which held its proceedings at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, of the three petitions that were entered at the Supreme Court, only two made it to the last lap of the litigation.

The seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Inyang Okoro, had on Monday, dismissed the case the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, instituted to nullify President Tinubu’s victory, after the party reluctantly withdrew its appeal which the panel insisted was academic and of no useful legal purpose.

Consequently, the surviving appeals were the ones filed by a former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi.

Profile of the justices

A peep into the profiles of the six men and a woman, shows a collection of justices who have made their mark on the bench.

Justice John Okoro

Justice Okoro, the head of the panel, was born on July 11, 1959 in Nung Ukim, Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

He attended Methodist School, Nung Ukim from 1965-1972, Boys High School, Oron from 1973-1977, School of Arts & Science, Uyo 1979-1981 and the University of Lagos from 1981-1984.

He attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985.

Justice Okoro started his legal career as Magistrate Grade 11 in 1986 and rose through the Magisterial Cadre culminating in his promotion to the post of Chief Magistrate Grade 1 in 1996.

He was then appointed a Judge of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State from 1998-2006. His Lordship was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2006 and he served in that capacity up to 2013.

He has over the years served in different capacities and bodies including; Member, Election Petition Tribunal, Kano, 1998; Member, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Petition Tribunal, Ondo State, 2003; and Member, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Petition Tribunal No.2 Delta State, 2003.

He has also attended several seminars, workshops and conferences both locally and internationally.

Justice Okoro was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 15, 2013.

He is currently the fourth most senior justice of the court.

Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji

Justice Abba Aji is the most ranking female jurist on the apex court bench and the only female on the panel.

She was born on November 7, 1956, in Gashua, Yobe State. She attended Central Primary School Gashua and Government Girls Secondary School Maiduguri for her Primary and secondary education between 1961 and 1972.

She obtained a Diploma in Law from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1976 and subsequently, an L.L.B (Hons) from the same institution in 1980. She was called to the Bar in 1981 and commenced her career as State Counsel in 1982.

Among other positions, Justice Abba-Aji was Clerical Assistant (Area Courts Division), Assistant Registrar, Acting Registrar and Higher Registrar between 1973 and 1982.

After her appointment as State Counsel in 1982, she rose through various positions becoming an Acting Senior State Counsel in 1984, Senior Magistrate II in 1986, Senior Magistrate I in 1987, Chief Magistrate II in 1989, Chief Magistrate I in 1991 and Chief Registrar in November 1991.

She was appointed Higher Court Judge of Yobe State Judiciary in December 1991 making her the first Lady Judge in Yobe State Judiciary, a position she held until July 2004 when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Before her elevation to the Supreme Court on January 8, 2019, Justice Abba-Aji was the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal Kaduna Division, a position she held for four years.

Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba

Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba was born on November 16, 1958. He hails from Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

He attended Demonstration Primary School, Maru from 1965-1971, Government Secondary School, Gusau from 1972 -1976, School of Basic Studies Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1976-1977, Faculty of Law, A.B.U, Zaria from 1977-1980, Nigerian Law School, Lagos, from 1980-1981 and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (UNILAG) Akoka, Lagos in 1989.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981.

He served as Magistrate in the Sokoto State Judiciary from 1982-1986, Deputy Chief Registrar High Court of Justice, Sokoto State from 1989-1991, appointed Solicitor-General/Director-General Ministry of Justice Sokoto State from 1991-1993.

He was then appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Sokoto State from 1993-1996. He served as Chief Judge, High Court of Justice, Zamfara State from 1996-2004.

In 2004, Justice Garba was elevated to the Court of Appeal and served at various times as the Presiding Justice in Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Lagos Divisions of the Court from 2010-2020.

He has over the years, served on different capacities and bodies, including as; Member Body of Benchers from 1996-2004, Member, Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Abuja 1996-2004, Member, Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) 1997-1999, Member Body of Benchers 2010 to date, Life Bencher 2018 to date.

Remarkably, he served as a member of the Presidential Election Panel in 2011 and also as Chairman of the Presidential Election Panel that dismissed the petition that Atiku filed to challenge the election of former President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019.

He was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 6, 2020.

Justice Ibrahim Saulawa

Justice Saulawa was born on September 29, 1956 in Katsina. Katina State. He attended both Primary and Secondary Schools in Katsina from 1965 to 1976 after which he proceeded to the Bayero University Kano in September 1977 and graduated in June 1981 with a Bachelor of Law degree.

The same year, he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School Lagos and was eventually called to the Nigerian Bar on July 2, 1982.

He began his career with the Ministry of Justice, Kaduna State in August 1982 as a Pupil State Counsel (NYSC: (ii) Secretary, Law Officers (Attorneys – General) Committee of the then 10 Northern States; (iii) a Visiting Lecturer, College of Legal and Extra-Mural Studies, Katsina Polytechnic, Katsina 1982-83

He a short private practice, he was made a Magistrate Grade 2 in the Kaduna State Judiciary on September 1, 1983

He served as Chief Magistrate, Katsina State Judiciary, 1987 – 1991; Deputy Chief Registrar/ Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal Lagos 1991 – 1994, High Court Judge, Katsina State Judiciary 1994 – 2006.

Justice Saulawa was elevated to the Bench of the Court of Appeal on June 10. 2006.

He subsequently served as Presiding Justice: Calabar Judicial Division October, 2015 – August. 2018; Ilorin Judicial Division – September, 2018 – January, 2020 and Port Harcourt Judicial Division – January, 2020 – November 9, 2020.

Justice Saulawa was elevated to the Bench of the Supreme Court on November 10, 2020.

Justice Adamu Jauro

Justice Adamu Jauro was born on June 26, 1959. He hails from Gombe State. He attended Central Primary School, Gombe, Government Secondary School, Bauchi and the School of Basic Science, Zaria.

In 1980, he studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he bagged his LLB.

Justice Jauro holds a master’s degree in Law from the University of Jos and also has a certificate from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

After he was called to Bar, Jauro worked with the Ministry of Justice in 1983 and was promoted as Director of Public Prosecution.

He served in various capacities before being appointed as a judge of the Gombe State Judiciary where he served till 2007.

In 2007, he was promoted to the Court of Appeal and served in Jos, Lagos, Yola, Ibadan and Port Harcourt.

Justice Jauro was elevated to the Supreme Court bench in November 2020.

Justice Tijjani Abubakar

Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who is a native of Base Local Government Area of Yobe State, was born on April 15, 1960.

He attended Gashua Central Primary School and Government Secondary School, Gashua.

He later attended the School of Basic Science, University of Maiduguri as well as the University of Maiduguri where he studied Law and graduated in 1982.

After graduating from the Nigerian Law School, Justice Abubakar was called to the Bar in 1983.

He had worked as Attorney General, Permanent Secretary and Commissioner for Justice of Yobe State at various times.

He subsequently went into private practice and set up his own law firm, known as Tijani Abubakar and Co. in 2004.

Abubakar returned to public practice with his appointment as a judge of the Federal High Court.

In 2012, he was appointed as Justice of the Court of Appeal.

He was serving at the Lagos Division of the appellate the court when he was elevated to the Supreme Court bench in 2020.

Justice Emmanuel Agim

Justice Emmanuel Agim was born on April 26, 1960, in Obudu, Cross Rivers State.

He obtained his first degree, LLB, at University of Calabar, then BL from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, and subsequently, LLM, from the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

After serving as President of the Court of Appeal of The Gambia, and three years as Chief Justice of The Gambia, Justice Agim was later sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Swaziland on May 2, 2012 where he served in the first all-black bench in the history of Swaziland and her sister countries- Botswana and Lesotho.

On November 5, 2012, he was sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria by the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar.

In October 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Agim, Jauro’s dissenting verdicts
It can be recalled that Justice Agim and Justice Jauro were the two members of the apex court bench that gave dissenting judgments that would have dashed the hope of immediate past Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, to contest the 2023 general election.

The duo, contrary to the position of the head of the panel, late Justice Centus Nweze and two other members of the panel, maintained that Lawan was not qualified to contest the Yobe North Senatorial election.

They gave their judgment in favour of Bashir Machina, stressing that Lawan was not the validly nominated candidate of the APC for the senatorial contest.

Notwithstanding the dissenting judgements of Justices Agim and Jauro, Lawan still survived the sledgehammer as the majority decision of three other members of the panel, favoured him.

VANGUARD

Headline

Musk Breaks Record As First Person Worth Over $600 Billion

Published

27 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, has reached a new personal wealth milestone, surpassing a net worth of $600 billion, driven primarily by a recent valuation increase of SpaceX.

The development makes Musk the first individual in history to exceed the US$600 billion threshold.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Musk’s net worth stood at approximately $638 billion as of 15 December 2025, with the increase largely attributed to SpaceX, which was recently valued at around $800 billion following an insider share sale.

The privately held aerospace company, based in Starbase, Texas, is now considered the most valuable private firm globally, significantly boosting Musk’s personal holdings.

Musk’s stake in Tesla, estimated at roughly 12 per cent, is valued at nearly $200 billion, while his majority ownership of xAI Holdings is estimated at $60 billion.

Collectively, these assets place him on track to potentially approach US$700 billion, widening the gap between him and the world’s second-richest individual, former Google CEO Larry Page, valued at $265 billion.

The SpaceX valuation comes ahead of a projected public listing in 2026, which could see the company valued at approximately $1.5 trillion.

“Other shareholder meetings are snooze-fests but ours are bangers. Look at this. This is sick,” Musk said in November during Tesla’s shareholder meeting, referring to a performance-linked pay package approved by investors.

He added, “I super appreciate it.” The package, potentially worth up to US$1 trillion in stock, is tied to market-capitalisation and operational milestones over the next decade.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network has also contributed to investor confidence. The company continues to expand high-speed internet access to underserved regions worldwide.

Chad Gibbs, Vice President of Starlink Operations, stated that the satellite technology “bypasses the need to build massive amounts of infrastructure,” allowing broader and faster connectivity.

Musk’s ascent in personal wealth follows years of strategic risk-taking and long-term planning, with Tesla’s focus on electric vehicles, battery technology, and autonomous systems laying the foundation for his financial growth.

Analysts note that the combination of SpaceX’s soaring valuation, Tesla’s long-term incentives, and Musk’s diverse portfolio underpins his current status as the world’s wealthiest individual.

Headline

South Korea, Japan Protest China, Russia Aircraft Incursions

Published

6 days ago

December 10, 2025

Editor

South Korea and Japan reacted furiously on Wednesday after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols around the two countries, with both Seoul and Tokyo scrambling jets.

South Korea said it had protested with representatives of China and Russia, while Japan said it had conveyed its “serious concerns” over national security.

According to Tokyo, two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers on Tuesday flew from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country.

The incident comes as Japan is locked in a dispute with China over comments Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan.

The bombers’ joint flights were “clearly intended as a show of force against our nation, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on X Wednesday.

Top government spokesman Minoru Kihara said that Tokyo had “conveyed to both China and Russia our serious concerns over our national security through diplomatic channels”.

Seoul said Tuesday the Russian and Chinese warplanes entered its air defence zone and that a complaint had been lodged with the defence attaches of both countries in the South Korean capital.

“Our military will continue to respond actively to the activities of neighbouring countries’ aircraft within the KADIZ in compliance with international law,” said Lee Kwang-suk, director general of the International Policy Bureau at Seoul’s defence ministry, referring to the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone.

South Korea also said it deployed “fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies” in response to the Chinese and Russian incursion into the KADIZ.

The planes were spotted before they entered the air defence identification zone, defined as a broader area in which countries police aircraft for security reasons but which does not constitute their airspace.

Japan’s defence ministry also scrambled fighter jets to intercept the warplanes.

Beijing later Tuesday confirmed it had organised drills with Russia’s military according to “annual cooperation plans”.

Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.

Since 2019, China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea’s air defence zone without prior notice, citing joint exercises.

In November last year, Seoul scrambled jets as five Chinese and six Russian military planes flew through its air defence zone.

Similar incidents occurred in June and December 2023, and in May and November 2022.

Meanwhile, Tokyo said Monday it had scrambled jets in response to repeated takeoff and landing exercises involving fighter jets and military helicopters from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier as it cruised in international waters near Japan.

It also summoned Beijing’s ambassador after military aircraft from the Liaoning locked radar onto Japanese jets, the latest incident in the row ignited by Takaichi’s comments backing Taiwan.

Takaichi suggested last month that Japan would intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own and has not ruled out seizing by force.

AFP

Headline

Thousands Reported To Have Fled DR Congo Fighting As M23 Closes On Key City

Published

1 week ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

Fierce fighting rocked the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday as the Rwanda-backed M23 militia rapidly advanced towards the strategic city of Uvira, with tens of thousands of people fleeing over the nearby border into Burundi, sources said.

The armed group and its Rwandan allies were just a few kilometres (miles) north of Uvira, security and military sources told AFP.

The renewed violence undermined a peace agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump that Kinshasa and Kigali signed less than a week ago, on December 4.

Trump had boasted that the Rwanda-DRC conflict was one of eight he has ended since returning to power in America in January.

With the new fighting, more than 30,000 people have fled the area around Uvira for Burundi in the space of a week, a UN source and a Burundian administrative source told AFP.

The Burundian source told AFP on condition of anonymity he had recorded more than 8,000 daily arrivals over the past two days, and 30,000 arrivals in one week. A source in the UN refugee agency confirmed the figure.

The Rwanda-backed M23 offensive comes nearly a year after the group seized control of Goma and Bukavu, the two largest cities in eastern DRC, a strategic region rich in natural resources and plagued by conflict for 30 years.

Local people described a state of growing panic as bombardments struck the hills above Uvira, a city of several hundred thousand residents.

“Three bombs have just exploded in the hills. It’s every man for himself,” said one resident reached by telephone.

“We are all under the beds in Uvira — that’s the reality,” another resident said, while a representative of civil society who would not give their name described fighting on the city’s outskirts.

Fighting was also reported in Runingo, another small locality some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Uvira, as the M23 and the Rwandan army closed in.

Burundi views the prospect of Uvira falling to Rwanda-backed forces as an existential threat, given that it sits across Lake Tanganyika from Burundi’s economic capital Bujumbura.

The city is the main sizeable locality in the area yet to fall to the M23 and its capture would essentially cut off the zone from DRC control.

Burundi deployed about 10,000 soldiers to eastern DRC in October 2023 as part of a military cooperation agreement, and security sources say reinforcements have since taken that presence to around 18,000 men.

The M23 and Rwandan forces launched their Uvira offensive on December 1.

Rich in natural resources, eastern DRC has been choked by successive conflicts for around three decades.

Violence in the region intensified early this year when M23 fighters seized the key eastern city of Goma in January, followed by Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, a few weeks later.

– Regional risk –

The peace deal meant to quell the fighting was signed last Thursday in Washington by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, with Trump — who called it a “miracle” deal — also putting his signature to it.

The agreement includes an economic component intended to secure US supplies of critical minerals present in the region, as America seeks to challenge China’s dominance in the sector.

But even on the day of the signing, intense fighting took place in South Kivu, where Uvira is located, which included the bombing of houses and schools.

Witnesses and military sources in Uvira said that Congolese soldiers fleeing the fighting had arrived in the city overnight Monday and shops were looted at dawn.

Several hundred Congolese and Burundian soldiers had already fled to Burundi on Monday, according to military sources, since the M23 fighters embarked on their latest offensive from Kamanyola, some 70 kilometres north of Uvira.
Since the M23’s lightning offensive early this year, the front had largely stabilised over the past nine months.

Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye warned in February there was a danger of the conflict escalating into a broader regional war, a fear echoed by the United Nations.