The Chairman of the Code of Conduct of Tribunal, Danladi Umar, has vowed to jail journalists who misrepresented facts in the ongoing trial of suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen for 28 years.
Umar, who reacted to some newspapers reports on Thursday, said there had been distortion and misrepresentation of last Monday’s proceedings of the trial, saying that any newsman who would try such a thing would spend his remaining active service period in prison, as he would be jailed for 28 years.
“Henceforth, any journalist carrying concocted or discredited statement which is not adduced before this tribunal, I will not hesitate to bring the full weight of the law heavily on the person. The journalist will languish there (prison) and may remain there until I retire – that is about 28 years from now.
“The person will be summarily sent to prison because that is contempt. It does not matter whether the contempt is committed in facie curiae (before the court) or ex facie curiae (outside the court),” he said in a report by Punch.
