Age Falsification: Organisation Urges NJC To Take Action In Petition Against Chief Judge Of Kebbi State, Hon. Justice M. S. Ambursa
A Civil society organisation, the International Human Right Today Initiative (IHRTI) has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to take action in the matter of the falsification of age of the Chief Judge of Kebbi State, Hon. Justice M. S. Ambursa.
In a petition made available to The Metro Lawyer (TML) newsdesk, and signed by its Katsina Zonal Coordinator Usman Lawan Mai Yasin, the Honourable Chief Judge of Kebbi State is alleged to have falsified his age, thereby staying in office beyond the constitutionally stipulated age of 65 years.
Yasin stated that the organisation, which is registered to fight violations of human rights and promote social justice and good governance in Nigeria, had been inundated with complaints from Kebbi State concerning falsification of age by the State’s Chief Judge. This led to an investigation of the complaints by the organisation.
Documents obtained by IHRTI which were attached to the petition and an affidavit sworn to by its Zonal Coordinator, Usman Lawan Mai Yasin, showed that the Hon. Justice M. S. Ambursa, has three conflicting dates of birth to his name.
A copy of his primary school certificate which was obtained by the organisation showed an approximate year of birth to be 1957, while a copy of a gazette from Sokoto State (where the Chief Judge served as a primary school teacher, before the creation of Kebbi State) indicates that he was born on the 30th of December, 1954. By the Sokoto State Notice of Appointment No. 9 published in the gazette, he was employed by the then Ministry of Education, Sokoto State as Master Grade II teacher with his name written as Ambursa Suleiman M. and date bof birth captured as 30/12/1954.
Yet another information posted on the website of the High Court of Kebbi State, shows the Hon. Chief Judge’s date of birth as 25th December, 1957.
Against this background, the group therefore urged the NJC to take appropriate action against the Hon Chief Judge of Kebbi State, as was previously done against judges who were found to have falsified their ages; maintaining that Hon. Justice Ambursa ought to have retired from office two years ago in 2020, having attained the age of 65 years (going by the Sokoto State gazette), and as provided for by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The petition and attached documents can be viewed in the link below.
Petition Against the Chief Judge of Kebbi State for Falsification of Age
If the NJC finds against Justice Ambursa, he may be required to refund the salaries and allowances he received beyond the period when he should have left office, in addition to facing criminal charges for falsifying his age.
