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CJN’s Comment On G5 Govs Was Twisted – S’ Court By Adeola Soetan

Adeola-Soetan
November 27, 2022

I wrote recently about the indiscretion of the CJN Ariwoola to have attended "the ongoing Wike & Gang Dance and Cultural Troupe Fiesta". I think the CJN should have sent a representative to that event with a prepared speech judging from Wike & Gang's ongoing political razzmatazz.

As Yoruba say: A o ti ko Ifa nile, Ifa ti n'se". It literally means that Ifa prediction is manifesting earlier than expected. 

 

I wrote recently about the indiscretion of the CJN Ariwoola to have attended "the ongoing Wike & Gang Dance and Cultural Troupe Fiesta". I think the CJN should have sent a representative to that event with a prepared speech judging from Wike & Gang's ongoing political razzmatazz.

 

There's hardly any event that Wike organised so far during his present extravagant masquerade festival that was not made controversial by his speech, conduct, dance, attitude, bomb-throwing, dirt splitting and firing from all cylinders. 

 

A CJN who doesn't like to be misquoted or in any controversy will avoid Wike during this period of belligerent ecstasy. The highest placed officer of the temple of justice and injustice should not be attending a "masquerade festival" under any guise of commissioning judicial complex. I hope a lesson has been learnt about official discretion and circumspection. Conscientious judges must always keep a long "social distance" from politicians to be safe and not discredited. 

 

The Press Statement from the Office of the CJN is belittling of that exalted office. A rebuttal of any distortion of the CJN's speech at Wike's festival is expected to be succinct, simple and clear on what the CJN said and not said, did and not do at the Wike Fiesta for the official record. But unfortunately, the letter veered off from the brevity and cogency expected of the office of CJN and delved into an unnecessary conjectural exercise in prejudice, name-calling, and abrasiveness. Attaching political insinuation, and gossip to the said reported distortion by the media makes the public statement meaningless and the least expected of the Supreme Court public correspondence. The voluble and caustic Wike couldn't have written a more acerbic public rebuttal than that.

 

The Supreme Court as the highest court of the land is expected to deal with facts and evidence, not hearsay, conjecture or market gossip before coming to conclusion. What facts and evidence were before the CJN's office before coming out with such an injudicious embarrassing public statement? A simple clarification of what the CJN said and did at the Wike festival would have sufficed without any rigmarole.

 

This goes to show that the quality of governance is falling rapidly in all arms and tiers of government in the country. The judiciary should not join the ridiculous combative "bolekaja" approach of public engagement like the presidency and rogue politicians do. 

Adeola Soetan