At her valedictory session marking her retirement from the Supreme Court of Nigeria upon reaching the mandatory age of 70, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji revealed that she and other members of a Supreme Court panel had been placed on a United States visa ban. According to the retiring jurist, the travel restrictions stemmed from a contentious judicial decision that faced widespread public misinterpretation. She described the visa restrictions as a personal sacrifice made in the line of duty, emphasizing that such professional inconveniences were a small price to pay to uphold the integrity of justice.
While Justice Abba-Aji did not explicitly name the case, reports indicate the ban relates to the Supreme Court's January 14, 2020 judgment concerning the 2019 Imo State governorship election. In that ruling, a seven-member panel nullified the election of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, and ordered the swearing-in of the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who had initially finished fourth.
The panel—which included current Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Justice Abba-Aji, and was led by the late former CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad—vacated the concurrent decisions of both the election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal. To determine the outcome, the apex court incorporated disputed votes from 388 polling units that had been tendered by a police witness but disowned by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Following the courtroom computation of votes, Uzodimma was declared the winner, a verdict that sparked significant public debate and protests. Subsequent applications for a review of the judgment were dismissed by the apex court.
The ruling featured a notable dissenting opinion from Justice Centus Nweze, who called for Ihedioha's reinstatement and cautioned that the decision would have lasting implications for the country's electoral jurisprudence.
Tributes from the Judiciary
During the ceremony, Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun praised Justice Abba-Aji for her decades of dedicated public service. Tracing her career back to 1973 when she began as a clerical assistant in Borno State before ascending through various administrative and judicial roles—including the Court of Appeal in 2004 and the Supreme Court in 2019—the CJN highlighted her as a trailblazer for women in the Nigerian judiciary.
Furthermore, the CJN commended Justice Abba-Aji’s leadership within organizations such as the National Association of Women Judges Nigeria, noting her significant contributions to mentoring and empowering female legal professionals throughout her career.