CJN Had No Phone Conversation With Tinubu – Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has clarified that the Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had no telephone conversation with anybody including President Ahmed Bola Tinubu on the on-going Presidetial Election Petition on the 2023 election.

The Apex Court said that Justice Ariwoola neither spoke with Tinubu nor the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) with a view to pressurizing the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the likely judgment to give in respect of the petitions.

The Director of Press and Information, Supreme Court of Nigeria, Dr Akande Festus made the clarification in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

The statement said in view of the rumor currently circulating in the social media space that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had a telephone conversation with His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) with a view to pressurizing the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has no iota of truth in the narrative, as there was no such telephone conversation between the CJN and anyone.

The statement stresses that Nigerians have been following the proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal with admirable enthusiasm so, it is advisable for all to sustain the tempo and follow it up to the end, instead of relapsing into the realm of speculations and rumor peddling that will do no one any good.

It stated that if the current trend of falsehood and mudslinging is sustained, the nation may not make the desired progress because the courts are statutorily established to serve the best interest of the masses and ever poised to do that in the best of its ability.

The statement pleaded with everyone to cooperate with the judiciary to serve the country to its full capacity, as no one will ever be favoured against the other in any dispute.

According to the statement the rule of law and supremacy of the Nigerian Constitution will always be upheld and applied in every matter that comes before the courts as the facts presented and the subsisting laws must be applied in determining the merit or otherwise of each matter.

It however added that the public should be rest assured that justice will be done in all matters pending in the various courts across the country, irrespective of who is involved.

PR/Garry Ochigbo