The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, in an unexpected delve into political commentary, says the achievements of Rivers governor Nysom Wike in office would be hard to beat by his successors.
Mr Ariwoola explained that whether Mr Wike is loved by the people or not, he was already leaving a legacy behind for the yet unborn generations.
“The whole world has seen what you are doing and what you can do and we want this replicated,” Mr Ariwola said at a gala night and judiciary projects inauguration in Port Harcourt.
“I was telling somebody that his Excellency started far back as a local council chairman and the lordship saw in him his son that is worth raising. I have no doubt that the sky is still the limit for your excellency.”
He maintained that nobody as an individual or as a group has ever supported the judiciary the way Mr Wike had done since he came to power and emerged as governor.
Commenting on Mr Wike’s support for the judiciary, the CJN, who hails from Oyo State, jokingly said he was happy that Mr Makinde was already being held down by his Rivers counterpart by threatening to withdraw Mr Makinde’s wife, who is from the South-South state.
“That is why we should not be scared to have these men of the Integrity Group and I am happy that my own governor (Makinde) is among them because he would try to imitate his friend and in-law because we came here to marry for my governor.
“So, Governor Wike will always threaten that he will call back his sister if my governor fails to play ball. That is why you see him following his Excellency (Wike) because my governor is afraid of his wife being recalled,” Mr Ariwoola jokingly said.
Mr Ariwoola’s encomium on Mr Wike comes as the governor and four of his colleagues are currently locked in battle against their party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
The group of five (G5) governors, comprising Messrs Wike and Makinde, as well as Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, formed the Integrity Group alongside other aggrieved party chieftains, demanding the resignation of PDP national chairman Iyorchia Ayu in the wake of the emergence of Mr Abubakar, a fellow northerner, as the party’s flag bearer.
The governors have also been criticising Mr Abubakar for reneging on his alleged promises thereby refusing to support his presidential ambition while repeatedly maintaining that Mr Ayu must go in the interest of justice and equity in the party.
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