The story of the career of Justice Isa Ayo Salami, former President of the Court of Appeal (PCA),will make a thriller. With masterful directing, such a movie or book will break all sales records. It is a story of intrigues, betrayal by friends, victimisation and praises on his exit from office.
Justice Salami was abandoned by his colleagues when he needed them most, and those who should have stood by him sold out to the executive when he needed support.
Two events held in Abuja last week showed that he was shabbily treated. His traducers admitted that he was a victim of injustice in the temple of justice.
Justice Salami, who presided over proceedings at a valedictory court session in his honour, bore no grudges against anyone. He merely made his feelings known as he moved freely, shaking hands with his brother justices, judges and senior lawyers at the event.
His vindication manifested in the testimonies of speakers at the session and an event held the previous day in his honour. The speakers noted that the honoree could not do evil.
President Goodluck Jonathan, acting on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), suspended Justice Salami in August 2011. His suspension followed his disagreement with then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Aloysius Katsina-Alu.
Said to be acting on the advice of Attorney-General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke (SAN), Jonathan allegedly ignored the NJC’s subsequent recommendation that Justice Salami be recalled. The matter was not resolved until the jurist retired on October 15 after attaining the mandatory age of 70.
At the valedictory session on October 31, Justice Salami returned to his seat as PCA, but in retirement. Dressed in ceremonial costume like his six brother justices, with the Acting PCA Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa on his right, Justice Salami sat quietly as he relished the encomiums showered on him by speakers.
Justice Bulkachuwa praised the leadership qualities of Justice Salami while in office. She acknowledged his commitment to service and aversion to injustice, indolence and dishonesty.
She said Justice Salami “had a distinguished and admirable career in the legal profession and left behind a rich legacy of great achievements and indelible prints in the sand of time”.
“Selfless service to humanity, hardwork and strict discipline are the hallmark of this unassuming and listening gentleman and an illustrious son of this country. My lord was a renowned jurist, down to earth, a consummate thinker, a forthright Nigerian, blunt, constant and straight forward.
“He has shown these in his writings and judgments. He has greatly contributed to the growth and development of law and jurisprudence in this country,” Justice Bulkachuwa said.
Other speakers at the event witnessed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar and former CJN Justice Muhammadu Uwais expressed similar sentiments about Justice Salami.
Although Adoke was absent and sent no representative, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, attended the ceremony. Justice Auta headed a sub-committee of the NJC that recommended, among others, that Justice Salami should apologise to Justice Katsina-Alu and the NJC.
Justice Salami ignored the recommendation because earlier committees of the NJC headed by more senior judges did not find him guilty of any wrong doing. Following his refusal to apologise, the NJC, at a meeting presided over by the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Moses Bello, recommended that Jonathan should suspend Justice Salami.
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr Okey Wali (SAN) described Justice Salami as a courageous, thorough and methodical judicial officer.
Wali, who was represented by Mr Sunday Ameh (SAN), urged the Bar and Bench to reject attempts to compromise the judiciary.
Speaking at the valedictory service and the book launch held on October 30, Justice Salami relived what he went through in the hands of “colleagues and friends,” who compromised when it mattered most.
Justice Salami told the story of how an institution established to ensure justice, sold out and elected to roast one of its own.
He spoke of how, having overcome human betrayals, he has no regrets for his decision to resist the temptation to pervert justice.
“The NJC created by the Constitution to protect me, nay any judicial officer, was at the vanguard of my travails. The NJC failed in its duties and thereby surrendered its functions to the executive arm of government thus, ingratiating itself to the executive
“For instance, the NJC having cleared me of any wrongdoing, following the recommendations of Justice Aloma Mukhtar’s committee, ought to have recalled me to office without asking the president to exercise the power that he does not possess, on the flimsy excuse that it had earlier referred the matter to him.
“In truth, as a matter of courtesy, all it needed to do was to write the president that in view of its recent decision, this matter was now outside his purview. After so informing him, the NJC would be free to take the necessary step to implement its decision.
“The position in which NJC has found itself is similar to that of the proverbial cock that betrayed itself to the fox that what was on his head was not fire and encouraged the fox to touch it.
“The fox, having satisfied itself that truly it was not fire, has since been hunting cocks to make menu of them.
“I have no regrets whatsoever over all that I did, having acted according to the dictate of my conscience and in the fear of Almighty God. I swore to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to do justice to all manner of people without fear or favour; God has helped me so to do.”
He went on:“God helped me to overcome the travails of the last three years and I am grateful to Him and all those who have stood by me. However, it is not only about me, but about other innocent judges who may feel threatened and intimidated about upholding justice as a result of my maltreatment,” he said.
Justice Salami urged serving judges to adhere strictly to their oaths of office, warning that a departure from such “desecrates the temple of justice and brings untold hardship to the common man.”
The previous day, at the launch of the book – Isa Ayo Salami: Through life and justice – written in Justice Salami’s honour, Justice Uwais stressed the innocence of the honoree. The NJC, he said, acted unfairly in the manner it handled Justice Salami’s suspension.
He lamented that a body peopled by eminent and experienced minds could act in the manner the NJC treated Justice Salami. Justice Uwais said the suspension remained the longest in the judiciary’s history.
“None of the committees found Justice Salami guilty of any infraction, but the NJC, in considering the report of the last committee set up by it, directed that Justice Salami should tender an apology to the then CJN within seven days. This Justice Salami refused to do, since he was not found guilty of any misconduct.
“Without the NJC asking him to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for disobeying its directive, Justice Salami was served with a letter suspending him from office, pending his removal from office by the president, as recommended by the NJC.”
Citing the provision of Section 153(2) of the Constitution, Justice Uwais argued that it was not within the powers of the president to discipline any judicial officer, suspension inclusive.
“It follows that Justice Isa Ayo Salami has been unfairly treated by the NJC. It is disturbing, to say the least, that the NJC, whose membership consists of eminent and experienced judges and lawyers, should act in the manner they treated Justice Salami,” Justice Uwais said.
The atmosphere became electric when former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari led leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu into the hall.
Tiinubu praised Justice Salami’s courage in upholding justice in an era when it was sold to the highest bidder; a season when the craze for filthy lucre was the vogue.
“Thank you, Justice Salami for teaching us courage; for teaching us perseverance and for enhancing the value of character in human beings in all professions. We can only thank you because, in the ocean of corruption, you have shown us a great path in courage. When in frustration, you rejected lamentation and intimidation.
Governor Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara State warned of the consequences of the growing culture of impunity, abuse of power and injustice in the country.
“We should stand up for justice whenever injustice is being meted out to anybody,” he said.
The governor said it was unhelpful to the growth of democracy if the people failed to challenge injustice.
A former Attorney-General of the Federation Abdullahi Ibrahim (SAN) argued that Justice Salami was unduly maligned. He said all the allegations against him were not true.
Ibrahim, who has known Justice Salami for long, said the jurist was incapable of committing all the atrocities that his name was wrongly associated with.
“We have known him from his youth in the profession. He is a humble gentleman by any standard of the word. He is an intelligent human being, and above all, a man of integrity.”
Pioneer PCA Justice Mamman Nasir expressed delight at the large turnout of judges and lawyers at the event.
He said the development demonstrated a united judiciary that is intact despite attempts to cause disaffection among its members.
The spacious venue was filled to capacity with dignitaries.
The book reviewer, Prof Ademola Popoola of the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, who said the book, a compilation of Justice Salami’s unreported judgments, was not an attempt to write the honoree’s biography, described the jurist as an individual who believes in due process.
Popoola recalled that Justice Salami rejected an attempt to make him the Chief Judge of Kwara State in 1984.
“He would have become the CJ of Kwara State in 1984 without asking for it. He refused and insisted that due process must be followed,” Popoola said.
He urged Justice Salami to give an account of what led to his suspension, saying: “People will listen.”
Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), while reading Justice Salami’s citation, noted that his suspension was not the first time he would be penalised for standing for the truth.
He recalled that Justice Salami was suspended in his final year at Offa Grammar School in Kwara State for mobilising students to protest against some unpopular decisions of the school’s management.
He described Justice Salami as a courageous man, “who dared to run where others feared to tread”.
