Supreme Court decries ‘coordinated attacks’ on CJN

The Supreme Court on Tuesday decried the coordinated attacks and blackmail of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, and other judicial officers by critics.

The CJN has come under criticism over a statement credited to him on the involvement of the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in the current crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ariwoola had reportedly said during a state banquet held last month in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that he was happy Makinde was a member of the G5 group (a group of five governors) demanding the resignation of the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Reports emerged on Monday that the Department of State Service (DSS) quizzed the CJN on the matter last week.

In a statement issued by its Director of Press and Information, Dr. Akande Festus, the Supreme Court also dismissed the report that five Justices are demanding the resignation of the CJN.

The statement read: “Just like our earlier press statement debunking this barefaced falsehood and mischievous antics aimed at scoring very cheap and unpopular political gains in this era of aggressive and mudslinging politicking, we wish to state in very clear and unmistaken terms, that this is yet another round of the avalanche of lies that have been disingenuously packaged by individuals with an unenviable pedigree to malign the character and personality of not just the CJN but several other Judicial Officers that they considered to be too unpliable and principled to be approached for any form of underhand dealings, especially as election cases (petitions) will soon be streaming to the tribunals (courts) for adjudication.

“It has become very obvious that those with sinister motives have perfected plans to unleash all manner of coordinated attacks on Judicial Officers, starting from the CJN with a view to arm-twisting and blackmailing and ridiculing them to silence, ultimately for their ulterior motives.

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“For sure, it will only take an undiscerning mind to believe this string of falsehood, misinformation and blackmail.

“Nigerians are much wiser to fall for this armchair criticism and disingenuous sponsorships of paid crowds who masquerade as ‘civil society organizations’ to help them further their inordinate ambition of gagging and fettering the Nigerian Judiciary so that they could cowardly do their biddings.

“The publication, which was laced with tissues of lies, non-existent sources of information, and unsubstantiated claims, clearly showed the unwholesome intentions of the authors.

“For the records, no single Justice of the Supreme has asked the CJN to resign, and no Justice of the Supreme Court has or is writing any letter of protest whatsoever.

“This stream of falsehood, as usual, is flowing from the same discredited source that is hell-bent on destroying the Judiciary for some selfish interest.”

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