US travel ban on Supreme Court Justices based on misinterpreted judgment – Retiring Justice Aji clarifies

The Yobe-born apex Court Justice who made the revelation on Friday, in Abuja, explained that the US travel ban was still subsisting against the justices to this day.

Justice Abba Aji, who spoke at a valedictory Supreme Court session held in her honour, however, noted that the ban was part of the inconveniences and a small price to pay by judicial officers to preserve the sanctity of justice.

“One such challenging judgment was widely misinterpreted and led to a travel ban to the United States of America being imposed on all members of the panel, a ban which still holds today.”

Justice Abba Aji also recalled the year 2016, when, while on a programme in Washington DC, in the USA, she received a call that her attention was needed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over a petition against her in Lagos.

She explained that the petition made her a regular visitor at the EFCC office, answering questions on allegations of corruption she knew nothing about, adding that, at the end of the investigations, she was exonerated from all the allegations.

Despite the exoneration, she said the situation was chaotic and made a very difficult time for her, as slander had filled the air, adding that, to worsen the situation, she could not speak in her own defence in public because of the conservative nature of the judiciary.

The retiring apex court justice charged the younger generation of judges to hold fast to integrity and let justice be their compass.

She counselled serving judges to serve with humility and courage and to always remember that the law is not merely a profession but a trust.

Earlier, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who presided over the special court session, congratulated Justice Abba Aji for her diligent service to the country’s judiciary and for leaving the Supreme Court bench with an unblemished record of service.

The CJN said the career of Justice Abba Aji in the judiciary and the legal profession was important to the nation and to women who have followed her example on the Bench.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, commended Justice Abba Aji for her judgment that led to the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, which, according to him, has assisted the Nigerian government in combating corruption.