A retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, has disclosed that the United States imposed a travel ban on all members of a Supreme Court panel over a judgment she said was “widely misinterpreted”, and that the restriction remains in place years later.
She made the revelation on Friday, 6 November 2026, at a valedictory court session held in her honour at the Supreme Court in Abuja, a day before she bowed out of the bench on reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Her remarks were reported by BusinessDay, TheNigeriaLawyer, The Eagle Online and Legal Nigeria, among others.
What Justice Abba-Aji Said
Reflecting on difficult cases she handled during her years on the apex court, the jurist said one challenging judgment had been misunderstood by the public and led to a travel ban to the United States being placed on every member of the panel. According to the reports, she said the ban “still holds today”.
She described the consequences as an inconvenience that came with the job, saying such costs were a price to pay to protect the integrity of justice.
Justice Abba-Aji did not name the case, the affected justices or the specific aspect of the judgment she believes was misread. She also did not say what legal basis the US authorities relied on. There has been no public statement from the US Embassy or the State Department confirming, explaining or denying the restriction, and none of the reports carried any reaction to the claim from the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the Federal Government.
The Imo Governorship Judgment Link
Although she did not identify the case, the outlets that reported her speech linked her comments to the Supreme Court’s controversial judgment of 14 January 2020 on the 2019 Imo State governorship election. BusinessDay described the case as “believed to relate” to her remarks, while TheNigeriaLawyer said the connection was contextual rather than conclusively established.
In that ruling, a seven-member panel removed Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as governor and declared Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner. Uzodimma had come fourth in the results initially announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court held that results from 388 polling units had been wrongly excluded from the final collation and that, once they were added, Uzodimma had the highest number of lawful votes. INEC was ordered to withdraw Ihedioha’s certificate of return and issue a fresh one to Uzodimma. According to TheNigeriaLawyer, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, now the Chief Justice of Nigeria, wrote the lead judgment, while Justice Centus Nweze dissented.
Ihedioha later asked the court to review the decision, but the application was dismissed on 3 March 2020.
Earlier Claims of Visa Restrictions
This is not the first time the issue has come up. In February 2023, former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke publicly alleged that the justices on the Imo panel had been denied US visas for a judicial conference, according to reports at the time. Separately, in January 2023 the US government announced visa restrictions on unnamed Nigerians it accused of undermining democracy, although that announcement did not name individuals or mention the Imo case.
Justice Abba-Aji’s statement is significant because it is the first time a serving member of the court is publicly reported to have confirmed that such a ban exists and remains in force. If the reports’ link to the Imo case is correct, the restriction would affect the sitting Chief Justice, who presided over the valedictory session.
Who Is Justice Abba-Aji?
Born on 7 November 1956 in Gashua, Yobe State, Justice Abba-Aji began her judicial career on the Yobe State High Court in 1991. She was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2004 and to the Supreme Court in 2019. At the valedictory session, Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun praised her record, while Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi highlighted her role in the November 2024 judgment that upheld the legal foundations of the EFCC, ICPC and NFIU.
What Happens Next
Her retirement further reduces the number of justices on the Supreme Court, which handles the final appeals in governorship disputes and is expected to face a heavy load of election cases after the 2027 general elections. Attention will now turn to whether the US Mission in Nigeria or the judiciary will respond formally to her disclosure, and whether the remaining justices on the affected panel will speak on the matter.
Sources: BusinessDay, TheNigeriaLawyer, The Eagle Online, Legal Nigeria.
