Renowned broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere has given supposed insider details of the lobbying that led to President John Dramani Mahama's nomination of the Acting Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, to be the substantive Chief Justice.

Adom-Otchere, who is the host of Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana, on Thursday, September 26, 2025, claimed that three justices of the Supreme Court were thrown at the president for nomination as the next Chief Justice by persons close to him.

He said that the justices included Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Justice Yonny Kulendi, and Justice Gabriel Pwamang, who chaired the five-member committee which recommended the removal of sacked Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.

“The NDC people who supported Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, they mentioned to him that, ‘Chief, the thing is becoming very tight.’ You have Amadu Tanko in there, and the lobby for Amadu Tanko is coming from very important, significant quarters.

“There is also the age-old Justice Kulendi thing, which is also being captured by some important people around the president — in fact, some of the president’s immediate family wanted Justice Kulendi.

“And then there are also those who think that Justice Gabriel Pwamang has done more than enough to get the ‘situation’ — we don’t know what it is, but we can surmise that it is in reference to the Torkornoo removal,” he added.

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The broadcaster claimed that the persons close to the president who wanted Justice Baffoe-Bonnie advised him to use the recent 2025 Ghana Bar Association Conference, which was held at Wa in the Upper West Region, to distinguish himself.

He claimed that lobbyists for the Acting Chief Justice advised him to criticise the menace of illegal mining (galamsey) because they believed it would make him appear independent, which would make it difficult for the president to overlook him.

“The supporters of Baffoe-Bonnie told him that, ‘Chief, one of the ways in which you can get this is that you have an invitation to the Bar Conference; perhaps you should talk about galamsey because it is real. When you touch on galamsey, you would be able to attract some attachment of independence to your candidacy',” he said.

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Watch the full claim of Adom-Otchere in the video below:



BAI/VPO

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