Sources React To Report That Justice Tsammani Is Down, Confined To Wheelchair

Claims circulating on social media about Justice Haruna Tsammani, the presiding judge in the Presidential Election Petitions Court, being in ill health and confined to a wheelchair have been refuted by sources within the Nigerian Court of Appeal.

Supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, had shared tweets suggesting that Justice Tsammani was suffering from health issues, specifically an enlarged prostate, and was wheelchair-bound after returning from Paris. However, officials from the Court of Appeal stated that the judge was in good health and had been present in court recently, contradicting the rumors. On of the sources at the Court Appeal told SaharaReporters on Thursday that the judge was “hale and hearty”. “He was even in court yesterday (Wednesday) and was in the office of the Court Registrar, Umar M. Bangari, Esq.,” one of the top sources said.

Justice Tsammani led the five-man panel that dismissed the petitions filed by Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar challenging the election of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s president.

The panel ruled that the petitioners failed to establish that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intentionally refused to upload polling unit results to IReV, and the Electoral Act 2022 did not provide for electronic transmission of election results.

The petitions were dismissed for being “unmeritorious” and lacking evidence of corruption in the collation of results. Social media posts circulating false information about the judge’s health were denounced by court officials.