The Supreme court has on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the last presidential election.
The apex court ruled that Mr Abubakar’s appeal lacked merit, adding that it would give reasons for its judgment on a later date.
The panel, led by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad is made up of six men and one woman.
Below is a brief profile of the seven justices who decided Mr Abubakar’s fate.
CJN Tanko Muhammad
The CJN was born on the 31st of December 1953, an indigene of Doguwa, Giade Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
He studied Law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1976 to 1980 and proceeded to Nigerian Law School from 1980 to 1981.
He has a Masters Degree in Law (LLM) from ABU, Zaria from 1982 to 1984 and went back to ABU, Zaria in 1987 to 1998 where he obtained his Doctorate Degree (PhD) in Law.
From being appointed as Magistrate Grade II in 1982 to 1984 with Bauchi State Judiciary, to Senior Magistrate Grade II from 1984 to 1986, then as the Provost, College of Legal and Islamic Studies, Bauchi from 1986 to 1989.
He got an appointment as Chief Magistrate/Deputy Chief Registrar, High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from 1990 to 1991, as a Kadi (Judge) of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Bauchi State. He became a Justice of the Court of Appeal from 1993 to 2006.
He was appointed as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006 and was sworn-in on the 8th of January 2007. A substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman National Judicial Council on Thursday, 25th July 2019.
Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour was born in 1951, in Lagos Island. He studies law at the University of Lagos in 1974 with an LLB Honors and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1975.
Starting as a Pupil State Counsel in 1976, and in 1978 he became a State Counsel and rose to become a Senior state Counsel by 1982.
He rose to the position of Principal State Counsel in 1984, and by 1989 then Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Lagos State, until 1994.
He was appointed to the bench as a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Lagos State, on 18th February 1994 and an Appeal Court judge on 25th April 2005.
He was appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Kayode Ariwoola was born on August 22, 1954. However before he became a Justice of the Supreme Court on November 22, 2011, he was a judge of the Oyo State High Court in 1992 and a Justice of the Court of Appeal in November 2005.
Justice Amiru Sanusi who is from Katsina state was born in February 1950. He studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978.
He served as a judge in Katsina from 1990 to 1998, before he was promoted to the Court of Appeal in December 1998 and was sworn-in as a Supreme Court judge on May 14, 2015, at the Supreme Court Complex.
John Inyang Okoro was born on July 7, 1959). He became a Supreme Court judge on November 15, 2014.
It’s interesting to note that Justice Okoro was one of the judges arrested by the State Security Service in a controversial raid on judges’ homes in 2016.
And alleged that he was being persecuted by the SSS because he refused a bribe from the current transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi.
Justice Ejembi Eko who was born May 23, 1952. was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court in 2016.
Justice Uwani Abba-Aji was born November 1956 in Gashua, Yobe State. She obtained her law degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Read: End Of The Road: Atiku Loses At Supreme Court
He was sworn in as Supreme Court judge in January which made her the seventh woman to sit at Nigeria’s Supreme Court and second from the North East after Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi.
Called to the Bar in 1981, she served at various cadres, from Clerical Assistant, Area Courts Division in 1973 to Acting Chief Registrar, High Court of Yobe State, November to December 1991, then was appointed as a High Court Judge on December 18, 1991. On September 22, 2004, she was called up to serve at the Court of Appeal.
Abba-Aji is the only woman in the Supreme Court panel hearing the election petition appeal by the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
