PRESS STATEMENT
My
attention has been drawn to the sinister interpretation given to the visit of
Governor Nyesom Wike to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigerian (CJN) as
reported on page 2 of the Punch Newspaper of Monday July 20 2015.
While
it is true that the Governor went to see the CJN on the 7th and 9th of July
2015, his mission was to brief the CJN in his capacity as the Chairman of the
National Judicial Council on the need to renew the appointment of the Acting
Chief Judge of Rivers State and also the Acting president of the Customary
Court of Appeal.
It
should be noted that the current tenure of the incumbents will expire by the
end of August 2015, by which time the Courts will be on vacation and the
National Judicial Council may not be in a position to consider any request for
the renewal of their reappointments. There is therefore an urgent need to
expeditiously secure the renewal of the appointments of Acting Chief Judge of
Rivers State and her counterpart of the Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal
before the vacation begins.
Although
the Governor went to the CJN’s office on the said dates but never met him
because he was not around.
However,
considering the urgency and importance of his mission, the Governor wrote to
the CJN the next day 10th July 2015 requesting the approval of the NJC for him
to renew the appointments of Justice Daisy Okocha and Justice Christy Gabriel
Nwankwo as Acting Chief Judge of the State, and Acting President of the Rivers
State Customary Court of Appeal respectively. The requests were premised on the
need to avoid a sudden vacuum and ensure continuity in the administration of
the State’s Judiciary pending the appointment of substantive occupants into
these offices..
There
is nothing wrong in the Governor, who is also a member of the Body of Benchers,
going to see the CJN during official working hours on issues pertaining to the
effective administration of justice in Rivers State.
Therefore,
linking the Governor’s visit to the CJN with the ongoing election petition is
to say the least, malicious, tendentious and a wicked attempt to drag the name
of our most revered CJN and indeed the apex Court into the murky waters of
politics.
It
is unfortunate that the management of Punch Newspapers will allow itself to be
used by politicians to denigrate and impugn the integrity of judiciary at the
federal level with fabrications and outright falsehood laced in insinuations
and innuendos.
Governor
Wike advises the management of Punch newspapers to caution their reporters to
always base their reportage on facts and avoid actions that could trigger a
crisis of confidence in judiciary just to satisfy some narrow political
interests.
Simeon
Nwakaudu
Special
Assistant to the Governor on Media
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