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Tribunal: Meet The Five Justices To Determine Atiku, Obi’s Petitions Against Tinubu

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2023

The Presidential Election Petition Court in May, commenced hearing the election petitions filed by five candidates in the last presidential poll that saw the emergence of Bola Tinubu as winner.

The candidates are challenging Tinubu’s emergence, and the five-man panel is expected to hear the petitions and dispense justice accordingly.

PUNCH reports that the Registrar, Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, had confirmed to our correspondent that September 6 had been fixed for the judgment.

This report examines the profiles of the five justices who are members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal

Justice Tsammani:

Haruna Tsammani, 64 was appointed a Justice of the appeal court in 2010. He was called to the Bar after attending the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1983. He was appointed a high court judge in Bauchi State on September 17, 1998.

Tsammani is not new to electoral tribunal sittings. In December 2015, he was part of the five-man panel of the Appeal Court that dismissed an appeal instituted by a former governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, against the election of the late governor, Abiola Ajimobi.

Similarly, in 2019, Tsammani wrote the lead judgment for an election petition submitted by Ajimobi, who contested the decision of the 2019 Election Petition Tribunal, which on November 19, of that same year, confirmed Kola Balogun of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the senatorial election for Oyo State.

Ajimobi’s petition was rejected by Tsammani, who, in the lead judgment noted that the petition lacked merit.

He served as the chairman of the three-man panel that granted Obi and Atiku’s applications to serve Tinubu their petitions by substituted means.

He also presided over the Value Added Tax case between the Rivers State Government and the Federal Government. He is ranked 12th on the senior hierarchy list of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Stephen Jonah Adah:

The 66-year-old Justice is from the Asaba Division of the Court of Appeal. He graduated from the Nigerian Law School in 1982 and hails from Kogi State.

Adah was appointed as a judge of the Federal High Court on November 12, 1998, and was part of the justices promoted to the Appeal Court in November 2012.

One of his landmark judgments was delivered in an appeal filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2020 against a trial court’s decision, which partially upheld the no-case submission filed by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert Azibaola.

Adah led the panel that affirmed Ifeanyi Ubah as a senator in Enugu State after he was sacked over alleged certificate forgery.

He also led the panel that affirmed Valentine Ozigbo as the PDP governorship candidate for the Anambra governorship election in 2022.

He is ranked 22nd on the senior list of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Bolaji-Yusuf:

She is the only female justice in the tribunal was born on August 7, 1959.

She hails from Oyo State, where she started her education at Oranyan Grammar School between 1972 and 1973, before proceeding to the Breman Asikuma Secondary School, Central Region, Ghana, between 1973 and 1976.

Bolaji-Yusuf attended the Obafemi Awolowo University between 1979 and 1983 and later, the Nigerian Law School from 1983 to 1984.

She was appointed as a justice in the Oyo State High Court on January 30, 1997, where she delivered major judgments.

She was appointed to the Court of Appeal on March 24, 2014.

One of her lead judgments was delivered during the hearing of an N5.6bn pension scam in Oyo State.

The case involved the EFCC and 12 other persons in the Oyo State civil service.

She was on the panel that affirmed that the candidates of the Godwin Obaseki-led faction, were the authentic ones to participate in the Edo State 2023 elections.

She ranks 31st on the senior hierarchy list of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo:

The Bayelsa-State-born justice is from Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state. Born in 1965, Ugo began his education at the State school, Igbedi in Bayelsa State from 1972 to 1978.

He proceeded to the Government Secondary School, Asoama, Sabagreia in Bayelsa State from 1977 to 1982. He attended the University of Calabar, where he studied law from 1985 to 1989, and later attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1990.

Justice Ugo was appointed as a Justice of the High Court of Bayelsa State in March 2006. He became an appellate court justice in March 2014 and ranks 44th on the seniority list of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Mohammed Abba Bello:

The 62-year-old jurist from Kano State attended the Nigerian Law School in 1985.

In 2010, he was appointed to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. He presided over the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Tribunal in 2019.

David Ombugadu, the PDP governorship candidate in the general election of 2019, had filed a suit against INEC and Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressive Congress.

However, Justice Mohammed rejected the petition on the grounds that it lacked merit, noting that the petitioner’s claims of excessive voting and electoral violence could not be substantiated.

He is ranked 71st on the seniority list of the Court of Appeal.

SOURCE: PUNCH

Headline

Most Followed Tiktoker Khaby Lame Deported From US Over Visa Violation

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2025

Editor

Italian-Senegalese social media sensation, Khaby Lame, known as the world’s most followed TikTok creator, has been deported from the United States after allegedly overstaying his visa, The New York Times reported.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Lame, 25, was detained last Friday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

The agency confirmed the detention in an official statement, stating that Lame entered the country on April 30 but “overstayed the terms of his visa.”

Lame, who rose to international fame for his silent comedic reactions to overcomplicated “life hack” videos, has amassed over 160 million followers on TikTok.

His online popularity led to collaborations with global fashion brands, a role in a Hollywood film, and a reality show on Tubi titled Khaby Is Coming To America.

His deportation has sparked a storm of reactions online.

“Every single illegal alien needs to be DEPORTED. When I found out the biggest TikTok star, Khaby Lame, is an illegal alien evading taxes, I worked with Trump’s ICE to have him removed. He’s since been detained by ICE and removed,” Bo Loudon, a Gen Z Trump supporter and self-styled activist, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Following his deportation, Lame has not issued any formal statement. However, on Monday, he posted an Instagram story tagged in São Paulo, Brazil, marking his first confirmed location since leaving the US

Lame’s former legal representative, Riccardo Lanzo, told The New York Times that the influencer had spent significant time in the US recently but acknowledged uncertainty regarding his visa status.

The case came amid a broader immigration enforcement push under Trump’s renewed administration.
APF

Headline

Trump Unveils Website For $5m US Residency Visa

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2025

Editor

President Donald Trump touted a new website for his planned $5 million US residency permit on Wednesday, saying the waiting list for the golden visa has opened on TrumpCard.gov.

“Thousands have been calling and asking how they can sign up to ride a beautiful road in gaining access to the Greatest Country and Market anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

Trump unveiled the first such visa aboard Air Force One in April, holding a golden prototype that bore his face and promising the special permit would probably be available “in less than two weeks.”

The visas are not available yet, but the website announced Wednesday allows interested parties to submit their name, desired visa and email address under a header that says “The Trump Card is Coming.”

Trump previously said the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.

The announcement comes as deportation raids are being ramped up across the country, prompting protests, and as Trump’s administration faces ongoing lawsuits and accusations of rights violations over its anti-immigration blitz.

Trump has said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship. He said in February that his administration hoped to sell “maybe a million” of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible.

AFP

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19-year-old Nigerian Artiste Beaten To Death In Ghana

Published

2 days ago

June 11, 2025

Editor

A 19-year-old upcoming Nigerian artiste identified simply as Destiny has been beaten to death in the Volta Region area of Ghana.

According to The PUNCH, the incident happened on May 28.

It was gathered that a yet-to-be-identified Nigerian based in Ghana accused him of failing to remit funds related to a business venture they introduced him to.

The male adult, who was also said to be among those who facilitated his trip to the country, stormed his apartment alongside two others to question him about the funds.

However, Destiny’s failure to provide answers led to a severe assault meted out to him.

A source privy to the incident told The PUNCH on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because he lacked the authority to speak with the media that the Edo State-born artiste thereafter succumbed to the injuries sustained from the assault.

“Destiny went to Ghana to further his education, and the travel was facilitated by someone he called his street brother. These are the same people who provided an apartment for him over there. Those who broke the news to us from there said the men introduced him to a business, which they later accused him of diverting some funds meant for the business. This angered them, and they went to his apartment and beat him up. The beating was so intense that he felt weak and gave up the ghost in the process,” the source narrated.

It was further learnt that the suspects left the deceased’s body in the room after they discovered that he was motionless.

Another source who spoke to newsmen said the police later discovered the corpse a few days after the incident.

“The police were alerted to the incident, and some officers were deployed to the apartment where Destiny’s remains were found. We were told that no suspects had been arrested since his death. We hope the Ghanaian authorities find his killers and bring them to justice.”

In a video obtained by The PUNCH, Destiny was seen speaking about himself and what his plans were.

He said, “I am Destiny and I am a streamer from Nigeria. I want to apply to Streamers University, and this will be a great joy for me, my mother, and everybody. I am also an artiste and a gamer. I do all sorts of things.”

Recall that in April a 77-year-old Nigerian Uber driver, Olatunji Bolaji, was killed in a shooting outside a hookah lounge in Philadelphia, United States.

Bolaji, who lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was on duty around 2 a.m. on Wednesday when he picked up a passenger, a 22-year-old man, outside the Byblos Hookah Bar near Rittenhouse Square in Centre City, CBS reports on Friday.

Police said shortly after Bolaji picked up the young man, another vehicle pulled up behind his SUV, and two men got out.

One of them opened fire, shooting both Bolaji and the passenger.