By Pascal Ibe

Claim

Social media users claimed that an unnamed judge has apologized to Imo citizens over the 2020 Supreme Court ruling which ushered in Senator Hope Uzodimma as the governor.

Verdict

This claim is FALSE. The photo of a judge attached to this claim is the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloma Mariam Mukhtar. The ex-CJN was not among the seven panel of Supreme Court judges that gave the judgment that installed Senator Uzodimma as Imo governor.

Full Text

An X user, @AlexIgwe5 on 21 October, posted a photo of a judge and wrote that the judge apologized to Imo residents over the 2020 Supreme Court ruling.

The X user didn’t mention the judge who allegedly apologized.

The user wrote, “#Breaking I was having Eyes infection when I declared Hope Uzodimma winner Of Imo State governorship election in Court even when he comes 4th in position
~Judge Apologies to Imo State indigenous people.”

As of Saturday, this post had over 100 views and many responses on X.

FACTWATCH also spotted this claim in a WhatsApp platform named, IMO POLICE STAKEHOLDERS PLATFORM.

This platform had more than 100 members.

Background

The Supreme Court, on 14 January 2020, voided the election of Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State.

A seven-man panel of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, unanimously declared Hope Uzodinma as the winner of the March 9, 2019, governorship election and the validly elected governor of the state.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who read the lead judgment, ordered that the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha be immediately withdrawn.

She directed that a fresh certificate of return should be issued to Uzodinma.

She also directed that Uzodinma must be immediately sworn in as the Governor of Imo State.

Verification

First, when FACTWATCH subjected the photo of the judge to a Google image reverse search, results indicated that it was an image of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar. She served as CJN from July 2012 to November 2014.

The ex-CJN was not among the seven-man panel of Supreme Court judges that gave the judgment that installed Senator Uzodimma as Imo governor.

Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, Olukayode Ariwoola, Amiru Sanusi, Amina Adamu Augie, Uwani Musa Abba Aji, and Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun presided over the case at the Supreme Court. Kekere-Ekun announced the ruling.

There’s no credible report anywhere that supports this claim that a judge apologized to Imo residents over the 2020 Supreme Court ruling.

This Fact Checker also discovered that the claim was written, which indicated that it was false.

Conclusion

This is just a made-up claim to misinform the public. It has no element of truth in it.