KEY POINTS

• A retiring justice says the U.S. imposed a visa ban on a Supreme Court panel.
• She didn’t name the case; Vanguard links it to the 2020 Imo governorship ruling.
• She says the ban is still in place.

A retiring justice of Nigeria’s Supreme Court said Friday that the United States has imposed a visa ban on members of the court, Vanguard reported.

Justice Uwani Abba-Aji made the disclosure at a valedictory session marking her retirement. She said many people misinterpreted one challenging judgment, which led to a travel ban on every member of the panel that delivered it. That ban still holds today, she said.

Abba-Aji, who is leaving the bench at the mandatory retirement age of 70, described the ban as part of the price of her service. “Such inconveniences were a small price to pay to preserve the chastity of justice,” she said.

Visa ban linked to Imo ruling

She did not name the case. However, Vanguard said it understands the ban is connected to the dispute over Imo State’s 2019 governorship election.

On Jan. 14, 2020, a seven-member Supreme Court panel that included Abba-Aji and current Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun nullified the election of Peoples Democratic Party candidate Emeka Ihedioha. Instead, it ordered the swearing-in of All Progressives Congress candidate Hope Uzodimma, who had initially finished fourth.

The court overturned rulings by the Court of Appeal and the election tribunal that had upheld Ihedioha’s win. It added results from 388 polling units, totaling 213,295 votes, that a police witness had tendered but the Independent National Electoral Commission disowned. The ruling sparked wide reactions and protests.

Then-Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad led the panel, which also included Justices Sylvester Ngwuta, Kayode Ariwola and Amiru Sanusi. Justice Centus Nweze dissented, warning that the decision would haunt Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence for a long time. Ihedioha’s later bid for a review failed.

Chief justice hails retiring jurist

Meanwhile, Kekere-Ekun praised Abba-Aji’s long career, which began in 1973 as a clerical assistant in Borno State’s judicial service. She rose to the Court of Appeal in 2004 and joined the Supreme Court on Jan. 8, 2019.

The chief justice said Abba-Aji’s career reflects how the place of women in Nigeria’s judiciary has evolved. She also cited Abba-Aji’s leadership of the National Association of Women Judges Nigeria as evidence of her commitment to helping other women rise.