My comment on Makinde being among G-5 twisted – CJN

thecornetadmin November 27, 2022

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has said that a comment he made during a banquet held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, was twisted.

The media had quoted Ariwoola as saying he was happy that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State – from where he (CJN) hails – is part of the aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors, nicknamed the G-5. The said governors are opposed to the continued stay of the party’s national chairman Iyorchia Ayu.

In the disclaimer, the CJN said, “We wish to state unequivocally clear that the CJN, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON had never at any point said such during his brief remarks at the state banquet organised as part of the events lined up for the commissioning of the two Judiciary projects undertaken by the Rivers State government. We can’t really pinpoint where such barefaced falsehood is coming from; and certainly, we don’t also know at what point the CJN said he was happy that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State was a member of the now christened ‘Integrity Group’ or ‘G-5 Governors.’

“Even at the state banquet, organised as part of the events, the CJN made it clear in his brief remarks, that he (CJN) was not in Port Harcourt for the state banquet, but simply to commission the two projects as a mark of honour for the Judiciary and Hon. Justice Mary Peter-Odili, CFR, JSC, rtd and later go back to Abuja thereafter. Similarly, he said he was very surprised to see the ‘G-5 Governors’ (Integrity Group Governors). His surprise, particularly stemmed from the fact that he saw his own state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde (who incidentally is a member of the G-5 Governors at the Port Harcourt occasion.

“Let it be noted that anything said, assumed, presumed, reported or placed in the public domain outside the above facts, is simply a mere figment of the imagination of such authors and don’t in anyway represent what the CJN said in Port Harcourt, as we are not ready to join issues with such purveyors of misinformation.”