The Supreme Court has refuted a media report that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, met with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in London.
An online platform – Peoples Gazette – reported on Thursday that the CJN disguised in a wheelchair in London and met with Tinubu.
Tinubu’s victory at the February 25 presidential election is being contested in court by the presidential candidates of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
PREMIUM TIMES, on Friday, quoted the Supreme Court’s spokesperson Festus Akande as saying there is no iota of truth in the report by Peoples Gazette.
Contrary to claims by the report that Ariwoola travelled out of Nigeria on March 11 to the United Kingdom to meet with Tinubu, Akande said: “The CJN has been in Nigeria, and presided over meetings of the National Judicial Council (NJC) held on March 16 and 17.”
Reports say the NJC, on March 17, chaired a meeting of the National Judicial Council where the decision was reached to suspend the Chief Judge of Taraba State Judiciary, Justice Philibus Andetur from office for official misconduct.
Akande reportedly said the CJN accompanied by NJC’s Secretary, Ahmed Gambo, only travelled out of Nigeria briefly to London on March 18 for medical care.
“On 23 March, the CJN returned from his medical trip to London and later reported in the office (in Abuja), where he worked till 8pm,” Akande further said.
Akande said before the leaving for London, Ariwoola had notified President Muhammadu Buhari of the trip.
“The only time the CJN travelled earlier this year was on January 25, when he travelled for Lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia. He returned on January 29, 2023,” the Supreme Court spokesperson explained.
Earlier, Tinubu’s presidential campaign spokesman Bayo Onanuga had described the report as a “mere salacious fiction, meant to draw traffic to the discredited purveyor.”