Supreme Court clears air on CJN Tanko Mohammed’s Covid-19 status

By Olalekan Awojodu

Abuja

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dispelled the rumour making the rounds about the health status of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.

Gavel International recalls that the CJN absence at SANs inauguration held in Abuja reportedly threw the legal community into anxiety.

But while clearing air on the issue in a statement on Tuesday, the Director of Press and Information, Supreme Court of Nigeria, Dr. Akande Festus confirmed that there was no iota of truth in the claim as peddled by a section of the media.

According to DPI, there hasn’t been any indication made public or otherwise that has shown any anxiety over the CJN’s health.

Akande described the story as a concocted one and product of the imagination of the author which according to him has failed the test of sound and investigative journalism.

The report which he called ‘sensational’ he insisted was capable of whipping up sentiments and could erode good values.

The statement partly reads: Our attention has been drawn to the story currently in circulation with the above caption ‘Anxiety over CJN health’ which was published on page 38 of This Day newspaper on Tuesday 15th December, 2020.

 “This is obviously a product of the imagination of the author of the concocted story which has literally failed the test of sound, investigative journalism as no form of inquiries was made by the Reporter before hitting the public domain with this baggage of falsehoods to mislead the public.

“It’s necessary to state that there’s no iota of truth in the claim being peddled by the publication, as there hasn’t been any indication made public or otherwise that has shown any anxiety over the CJN’s health.

“The Hon. CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad being unavoidably absent at a function is not enough to plunge into this premeditated conclusion that there’s now “anxiety over his health.

“The other aspect of this monumental falsehood is the erroneous claim that the “CJN has not been seen in public for weeks.

” We are still at a loss as to where the Reporter got that malicious information from, as the CJN has been very active and even presided over the swearing in of the newly appointed Justices of the Supreme Court a few weeks back,” the statement added.