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Tag: Justice salami

  • Jonathan not eligible to contest in 2027, says Justice Salami

    Jonathan not eligible to contest in 2027, says Justice Salami

    A former President of the  Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami yesterday said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan is not eligible to contest the 2027 Presidential Election.

    He said Jonathan cannot be the nation’s President beyond the constitutional limit of two terms of eight years.

    He said if elected President, Jonathan would exceed the constitutional requirement for the office.

    Salami warned that Jonathan stands the risk of being nullified by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court if he defies the 1999 Constitution(As Amended).

    He said Jonathan’s 2027 presidential ambition is dead on arrival by virtue of Sub-section (3) of Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution as altered by the Fourth Alteration Act, No 16 of 2018.

    He said those encouraging Jonathan should heed the warning caveat emptor usually directed to land speculators.

    Salami bared his mind in an opinion on Jonathan’s bid for the Presidency in 2027.

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    He said: “ It is painstakingly and dispassionately demonstrated abundantly to all and sundry that ambition of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest for the office of the president for the second term in the 2027 general election is effectively and undoubtedly shot down by Sub-section (3) of Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution as altered by the Fourth Alteration Act, No 16 of 2018 which, to my mind is unassailable.

    “My advice to the political class angling up in his support to heed the warning, caveat emptor usually directed to land speculators to be aware.

    “In an event of his winning the election he will be conveniently removed by the Court of Appeal in an election petition to that court which removal will be undoubtedly affirmed by the Supreme Court on the ground that his total tenure would have exceeded the eight years maximum tenure.”

    Salami said any alteration or amendment to the constitution has retroactive effect unlike criminal act.

    He said it is trite that an amendment to an enactment relates back to the date the principal enactment (legislation it is seeking to amend) came into force.

    He added: “It seems to me, however, that the interpretation of the amendment is not strictly in contention.

    “What is in issue, to my mind, is the eligibility of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to seek the office of the president in the 2027 general election, being a person who exhausted the remainder of the term for which Umoru Musa Yar’Adua was elected president.

    “ It is his case that the amendment to the Constitution cannot take a retroactive effect.This argument has probably lost sight of two points of view.

    “Firstly, that it is a Constitutional and not a statutory provision that is in contention. Secondly, thepurported right he seeks to protect is civil and not criminal.

    “It is convenient to quickly dispose of the second point of view which I consider to be a civil right. The Constitution protects criminal right against retroactive legislation. Sub-section 8 of section 36 of the Constitution provides thus – 36-(8) No person shall be held to be guilty of a criminal offence on account of any act or omission that did not, at the time it took place, constitute such an offence and no penalty shall be imposed for any criminal offence heavier than the penalty in force at the time the offence was committed.

    “The Constitution frowns at or forbids retroactive enactment with regards to criminal act, omission and penalties and not civil or constitutional infractions.

    “Moreover, it is trite that an amendment to an enactment relates back to the date the principal enactment (legislation it is seeking to amend) came into force. In other words, the date for the commencement of Fourth Alteration Act, No 16 of 2018 is the date the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria itself, came into force. See sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Interpretation Act which states thus –

    4 (1) A reference in an enactment to another enactment shall, if the other enactment has been amended, be construed as a reference to the other enactment as amended.

    “Consequently, the hue and cry that there has been a retroactive legislation is most unjustifiable.

    “The principles governing interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions are not usually on all fours.

    “ The reason being that statutes are acts of the legislature while a Constitution; the ground norms are made by a higher body. In other words statutes in Nigeria are promulgated by the National Assembly for the Federation and State Houses of Assembly for the respective States.

    “The Constitution is usually made by a supreme body such as the National Assembly in conjunction with sub national assemblies. Plebiscites are, at times, required. It is inconceivable, therefore, to abrogate constitutional provision on account of unconstitutionality or as retroactively made or otherwise.”

  • Corruption war: Federal, state auditors-general offices have failed, says Justice Salami

    •Retired jurist seeks Audit Act, commission

    FORMER Appeal Court President Justice Isa Ayo Salami yesterday recommended the insulation of the federal and state auditors-general from legislative and executive arms to check incidents of corruption.

    The retired jurist also suggested the establishment of Audit Act and Audit Law for the Federal and state auditors general in addition to making provisions for the report of the auditor-general to be considered.

    Justice Salami made the recommendation at the national conference and annual general meeting of the Committee of Heads of Internal Audit Departments/Units in Nigerian Universities (CHIADINU) at Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Moro Local Government Area, Kwara State.

    He said: “Office of the Auditor General of the Federation and its state counterparts are expected to play key roles in our fight against corruption. The primary functions of these offices at both federal and state levels are to nip corruption in the bud; frustrate commission of the offence before it rears its ugly head. However, some of the offices have failed to perform the roles ascribed to them.

    “The main reason for this impression of these institutions is traceable to the Constitution and their respective state and federal enactments as well as dearth of qualified personnel. This challenge is rooted in lack of insulations of the offices from the executive arm of government it is established to audit. By the same token, the internal audit departments of the various universities are not insulated from or independent of the various vice chancellors they are meant to audit.

    “The public account committees of the National and state assemblies with our most recent experience may not augur well or be salutary. In their respective stead, I would respectfully suggest establishment of a commission with both the accountant-general and auditor-general as members with a retired auditor-general or reputable or seasoned accountant from private sector as the chairman.”

    He raised the alarm over current level of corruption, saying that the country is heading for a doom, if it fails in its continued fight against corruption and corrupt people.

    Justice Salami emphasised that Nigeria was at a threshold of monumental disaster, if drastic measures were not taken to “avoid the holocaust” that corruption could bring.

    Read also: Falana urges NLC to lead workers on anti-corruption war

    Justice Salami, who said government and individuals should promote culture of high regard for dignity of labour and integrity, said sense of integrity was gradually being eroded from professionalism.

    Also delivering a paper on “Fight against corruption: The role of internal auditors”, Auditor General for the Federation Anthony Ayine said that corruption is a major governance challenge in Nigeria.

    Ayine, who said that corruption, a global phenomenon, was becoming endemic in Nigeria, added that an estimated $2.6 trillion was stolen through corruption every year- a sum equivalent to more than five per cent of the Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the United Nations.

    “The effects of corruption to the socio-economic and political system of the country and the attendant poverty and misery it imposes on the citizenry have been so depressing over the years. This prompted establishment of institutions like the ICPC, EFCC, code of conduct bureau, bureau of public procurement and others.

    “It is however, my strong belief that if the audit function had been operating efficiently and effectively, there would not have been for all these additional anti-corruption agencies,” he said.

     

     

  • THE MAN JUSTICE SALAMI

    THE MAN JUSTICE SALAMI

    Justice Ayo Salami, no doubt, elicits different personalities, depending on what side he is being viewed from. Generally, he is seen as a courageous, pious and incorruptible judge.

    Justice Salami was born on October 15, 1943 in Ganma, in Kwara State. He obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC) at the Provincial Secondary School, Kano in 1963. He bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 1967 and was called to Bar on June 28, 1968, after the mandatory Law School training.

    He began his career as a Collector of Customs and Excise Grade II, and in 1971 was transferred to North Central State Public Service Commission, where he served as State Counsel Grade II.

    Justice Salami later became the Acting Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Kaduna  State Ministry of Justice, Kaduna before he was deployed to Kwara State in 1976 as a Senior State Counsel, where he later served as Acting Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Ilorin till 1978.

    He later became a judge and was, in 2009, appointed president of the Court of Appeal, to succeed Justice Umaru Abdullahi. He later had a disagreement with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, over the handling of Sokoto State governorship election dispute.

    His travails started when the Court of Appeal, which he presided over upturned the 2007 gubernatorial election results of Ekiti and Osun states that had been awarded the PDP candidates, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and gave judgments in favour of the then Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN) candidates, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola. Justice Salami then became an enemy of the PDP.

    The last straw for Justice Salami, however, was a pending judgment in the Sokoto governorship election result that he alleged the then CJN, Justice Aloy Katsina-Alu told him to withhold for political reasons. He said Justice Dahiru Musdapher was a witness to the matter. The government said he lied under oath.

    On August 2011, the National Judicial Council (NJC) suspended him on the grounds of his alleged refusal to apologise to the then CJN, who headed the NJC’s panel, which found him to have lied against the NJC.

    Aside the indefinite suspension handed him, the NJC also recommended Justice Salami’s retirement to President Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan agreed to suspend him, but did not retire him.

    On May 2012, the NJC reversed itself and recommended Justice Salami’s immediate reinstatement by the President, a recommendation Jonathan disregarded. Justice Salami did not return to the Bench until he retired on October 15, 2013 at the mandatory age of 70 years.

     

  • Return of Justice Salami

    SIR: The announcement by the National Judicial Council headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen of the setting up of the Corruption and Financial Crimes Cases Trial Monitoring Committee has elicited a lot of positive reactions from Nigerians. This is because of the personage that was selected to head the committee. He is no other than Justice Ayo Salami, the former President of the Court of Appeal who exited the office six years ago in controversial circumstances. Justice Ayo Salami is reputed to be a forthright and principled individual. One who is not afraid to speak truth to power irrespective of whose ox is gored. His antecedents as a jurist indeed speak volumes of his strength of character and also of his role as an impartial arbiter in the temple of justice.

    The terms of reference of the committee are also another issue which has gladdened the hearts of millions of Nigerians. Two of the items stand out for mention here. One is to monitor courts handling of corruption cases and the second is to see to the creation of special courts in each judicial division in the country to handle corruption cases. What this seeks to achieve is the speedy trial of corruption cases in Nigeria and the monitoring of corruption cases to ensure that judges do not deliver judgements that are at variance with the evidence on ground due to one form of technicality or another in the statute books. It will also make it difficult for judges to accept any form of financial inducement from corrupt individuals in order to deliver wrong judgement.

    Justice Ayo Salami was suspended on August 8, 2011 for nine months by the NJC after he refused to apologize to the council and former CJN Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu after a panel of the council found him to have lied against the CJN. But that was the official line. The truth was that Justice Salami was suspended for presiding over a court that sacked four Peoples Democratic Party Governors in Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun. He was about to deliver another judgement against the PDP in Sokoto State when the then CJN Justice Katsina-Alu intervened and told him not to as the impending judgement had been leaked. The rest is history as there were accusations and counter-accusations which eventually led to his suspension. He never regained the seat even when the new CJN Justice Dahiru Musdapher cleared him of all wrong doing.

    Justice Salami’s second coming is therefore a triumph to integrity, truth and justice. It will also inspire other Nigerians holding public offices to handle it with integrity, truth and fairness knowing that no matter what befalls them, posterity will be kind to them.

     

    • Peter Ovie Akus,

    Ifo, Ogun State.

  • Justice Salami vindicated

    Justice Salami vindicated

    His appointment as chair of looters’ trial monitoring committee should shame his conspirators

    Those who conspired against Justice Ayodele Salami in the tail end of his career in the judiciary must by now realise that, really, it is not over until it is over. They must have thought it was finished for the distinguished jurist; but God has proved that He is the only one that has such prerogative. Interestingly, the leader of those who played acting God over the Salami matter has himself been swept into oblivion. So, for Justice Salami, weeping may endure for a night, light cometh in the morning.

    That light shone brightly for all to see when on September 27, the National Judicial Council (NJC) named the retired Court of Appeal President as the head of a 15-member committee to monitor courts’ handling of corruption cases. The committee, named: The Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO), is also expected to drive the NJC’s” new policy on anti-corruption war. NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, in a statement, said the decision on the committee’s composition was taken at the NJC’s 82nd meeting in Abuja.

    Other members of the committee are Chief Judge, Borno State, Justice Kashim Zannah, Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice P.O. Nnadi, Chief Judge Delta State, Justice Marsahal Umukoro, Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice M. L. Abimbola. Others are the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. A.B Mahmoud, SAN, former NBA Presidents, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Mr. J.B Daudu, SAN and Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN as well as Dr. Garba Tetengi, SAN, Mrs. R.I Inga, representative of non-governmental organisations, representative from the Federal Ministry of Justice, representative from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, as well as Secretary of the NJC, Mr. Gambo Saleh.

    The committee’s primary functions include; “Regular monitoring and evaluation of proceedings at designated courts for financial and economic crimes nationwide; advising the Chief Justice of Nigeria on how to eliminate delay in the trial of alleged corruption cases; giving feedback to the council on progress of cases in the designated courts, conduct background checks on judges selected for the designated courts; and evaluating the performance of the designated courts”.

    Justice Salami ordinarily does not require any elaborate introduction, especially among the politically conscious Nigerians who saw how the immediate past ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) serially perverted the course of justice in the land in the better part of the 16 years that its men reigned. But because ours is a country where people forget so soon, it is pertinent to give some introduction so we can better appreciate the cruel and unjust manner in which Justice Salami was unceremoniously made to end an otherwise glorious career.

    His travails started when the Court of Appeal which he presided over upturned the 2007 gubernatorial election results of Ekiti and Osun states that had been awarded the PDP candidates, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, respectively and gave judgments in favour of the then Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN) candidates, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola, respectively. Justice Salami then became an enemy of the PDP. The truth of the matter was that the PDP never won the elections that brought their candidates to power in the elections as the polls were marred by fraud, massive rigging and violence.

    As we know, there are usually two kinds of thieves: the penitent ones who truly regret their actions, and the die-hard criminals that are the children of perdition. For the latter, even if you catch them with their hands in the cookie jar, they still continue to deny that they are thieves. The PDP harboured a lot of such characters, whether male or female. Even from what we have been hearing and seeing so far, the few females among them appear greedier than their male counterparts. They stole more than is enough for their third and fourth generations who have no need to use their hands to work or their heads to think over what to eat, drink and make merry.

    But nothing I have said should be taken to mean that there are no thieves in the other political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC). But the focus on the PDP for now is quite understandable: it was the ruling party at the centre for the first 16 years of our return to civil rule.

    Indeed, one of their own just so acknowledged the corruption among its members; so, those who might want to crucify me for merely restating what a former PDP chieftain said should think twice. Mantu, a former deputy senate president, his mantle in his hand, is asking for the forgiveness of Nigerians over the massive looting that his party big-wigs did. He claims he is born again. I do not know whether he has truly repented of the atrocities that his political party, the one that prided itself as the biggest party in Africa, which also harboured the greatest thieves on the continent, committed. That is for now in the realm of the spiritual.

    But, whatever it is, the man has further lent credence to what we already know: that PDP not only harbours a nest of killers as Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka once said, it is also a den of robbers. Or, what do you call a party that people joined as mere church rats and left as rich as dwarves? Someone some years ago said a similar thing when he told us that some people entered Government House today in bathroom slippers and left the next day in golden shoes. So, the question is: what product was the PDP selling or producing that could have brought its leaders such meteoric riches? The Yoruba race saw this aspect of the then ruling party in those elections then and was too sophisticated to be hoodwinked again after the first mistake, to vote in such a party in the politically articulate geo-political region.

    The last straw for Justice Salami however was a pending judgment in the Sokoto governorship election result that he alleged the then CJN, Justice Aloy Katsina-Alu told him to withhold for political reasons. He said Justice Dahiru Musdapher was a witness to the matter. Anyway, while neither denying nor accepting that he was, all Justice Musdapher said was that he could not remember the occasion. This was what the Goodluck Jonathan administration eventually used to nail Justice Salami. The government said he lied under oath and one thing led to the other until Justice Salami was suspended. It is a long story, a recap of which could eat up the entire column space.

    Suffice it  to say that even when the NJC  said that he be recalled from suspension, the government refused to toe this path, having made up its mind to teach him and other judges who would not dance to the tune of the government a bitter lesson. Justice Salami eventually retired.

    His appointment as chair of the looters’ trial monitoring committee vindicates Justice Salami and vitiates the position of his enemies who made him exit the judiciary almost unceremoniously, after  years of glorious service to the cause of justice and the nation.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has recently been taking some decisions that can promote the cause of justice as well as endear him to the vast majority of Nigerians, particularly on the anti-corruption war. One of such was his designation of special courts to handle corruption cases. Knowing full well that this may not work unless there is proper monitoring to ensure that the courts handle the cases expeditiously, without giving room for legal shenanigans (that have so far been exploited by our rich thieves in cahoots with their senior lawyer friends), he set up what some commentators have described appropriately as the committee on looters’ trial. But, like many other Nigerians, I am expecting what would probably be the icing on the cake: shifting of the burden of proof to the accused instead of the prosecution. If you suddenly became stupendously rich after a stint in the public service, you should be able to tell us the source of your wealth so that other Nigerians can learn from your example. That would be a veritable way of banishing the pervasive poverty in the land. We need to get some of these big thieves jailed so that the rest of them on the streets would know that what is good for them is to stop insulting our sensibilities with their ill-gotten wealth.

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has however raised a germane point which Justice Onnoghen should address.  The body alleged that some members of the Salami committee are counsel to some of the looters that the committee is mandated to monitor their cases. This is serious and the membership should be reviewed, if so. Otherwise, such counsel would end up constituting a clog in the wheels of the committee’s progress.

    The point is that; our judges know themselves. Those who hawk judgments and their senior advocate customers know themselves. Even some ‘eaglet’ lawyers know which judge is corrupt and which is incorruptible. So far, Justice Onnoghen seems set to beat the reforms some of his predecessors had done. But how far deep down into the heart of the matter he is prepared to go will distinguish him from the rest.

  • SERAP criticises Justice Salami’s panel composition

    SERAP criticises Justice Salami’s panel composition

    A RIGHTS group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Water Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen  criticising the composition of the Justice Ayo Salami (retd)-led Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee.

    It urged the CJN to review the composition of the 15-member committee comprising judges and practising lawyers, among others.

    SERAP appealed to Onnoghen to “remove the risk of apparent and potential conflicts between the work of the committee and the private practice of some of its members, who are handling high-profile cases of corruption involving politically exposed persons (PEPs)”.

    The organisation said “for the Salami committee to perform its tasks effectively and with propriety, it should preferably be composed entirely of members of the judiciary, particularly drawn from available pool of brilliant and incorruptible retired judges”.

    The letter dated yesterday and signed by SERAP Executive Director Adetokunbo Mumuni said “while international law does not prohibit some representation of the legal profession or academics, we urge your Lordship to select candidates from these fields to the Salami committee based on their demonstrable commitment to the fight against corruption, and after extensive consultation, and a thorough scrutiny of the candidates’ past record of legal practice, to eliminate all possibilities of bias and conflict of interest”.

    The organisation said doing this “would ensure accountability, keeping the independence of the judiciary intact and uncompromised”.

    The letter also reads: “SERAP believes that until the issues raised in this letter are satisfactorily addressed, Nigerians would have a doubt in their mind as to the ability of the Salami committee to discharge its mandates effectively and with propriety, and would have a right to have a doubt.

    “It is important for the Salami committee to function in a way that could preserve judicial independence, provide information for judges to improve their performance, and increase the public’s confidence in the courts.”

     

     

     

     

  • The crucifixion of truth

    The crucifixion of truth

    With Sanusi’s sack through the back door by President Jonathan, like Justice Salami’s, who is next?

    Do not get carried away by the title of this piece. Nothing in it suggests that the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was suspended (actually sacked) by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, is a saint. In Nigeria, who is a saint?

    A statement signed by Reuben Abati, the president’s spokesman, said inter alia: “ Having taken special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies, which indicate clearly that Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ‘s tenure has been characterised by various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline …” the Federal Government had no choice but to suspend the CBN governor.

    One thing that is not funny about the so-called suspension is that it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The Jonathan administration is deficient in all the qualities it has outlined as constituting Mallam Sanusi’s sins. Which financial recklessness is greater than the one in which our foreign reserves and even the excess crude account are being depleted voraciously without any tangible thing to explain the depletion? And this in spite of the fact that crude prices have been soaring far beyond budgetary projections! If the government is talking of core values, what constitutes its own core values? Does transparency exist in the government’s lexicon?

    As a matter of fact, this is the main reason why Mallam Sanusi incurred the wrath of President Jonathan. The CBN boss, had raised certain fundamental issues about the way billions of dollars are missing from the government’s coffers and, instead of the government thanking him (even if that is not his duty), he was asked to resign. As someone who knows his right, he refused. It was clear at that point that the President would take his pound of flesh.

    A predictable President Jonathan did last Wednesday. But we need to be worried, especially when dangerous precedents become a predictable pattern. I must confess that some of us heard something akin to what eventually happened to the CBN governor more than three weeks ago. What was in the air then was that the CBN governor would just get to his office and be barred from going in by security agents, and without any explanation, perhaps beyond the usual ‘order from above’. May be those who were to hatch the plot figured that might not go without incidents and so decided to wait for a more auspicious time. That came Wednesday when the former governor was in Niamey to attend the conference of the West African Currency Zone with other governors of the Central Banks in West Africa. Sanusi was reported to have hurriedly left the venue of the meeting shortly after the Nigerian Ambassador to Niger confirmed to him the directive suspending him by the presidency.

    When, the other time Justice Ayo Salami was the victim of presidential recklessness, we thought it was his (Salami’s) business. All we offered then was a feeble resistance. Even when the judiciary that took the matter to the President (apparently in error) said it had found nothing against the former President of the Court of Appeal and that he should be recalled from suspension, President Jonathan looked the other way and ensured that Justice Salami retired from his so-called suspension.

    The danger in our docility or nonchalance on matters like these is that impunity will continue to beget impunity. It is already happening. This paper’s editorial on Mallam Sanusi’s sack on Friday took us down the memory lane when it said that Alhaji Shehu Shagari took time out to address the nation when, during his time, N2.8billion oil money was said to be missing. This was the result of the outrage in the entire country. These days, worse allegations of corruption involving billions of dollars are treated as if they are not unusual. Indeed, Nigerians are no longer shocked by public officials stealing in millions, the vogue now is to steal in billions since hell would not be let loose.

    But these are too dangerous precedents that should not be encouraged in a democratic setting. The stark reality is that fascism is fast creeping in. President Jonathan does not need to tell us that he is neither Pharaoh nor Herod; his actions have spoken louder than his voice to give us an idea of his true personality. And the situation can only get worse with the 2015 elections getting closer because most things happening in the country, particularly on the political and economic plains, including the removal of Mallam Sanusi, are all about the 2015 elections. Nigerians who felt the 2011 elections gulped money would see that the next general elections would gulp even more. What was spent in 2011 would be chicken feed to what would be spent next year. And that money must come from somewhere. All kinds of books would be cooked because there won’t be any heading for such expenditure anywhere in the budget. We may start to feel the negative impact of such unearned income on the economy by the third or fourth quarter of the year. Now that Mallam Sanusi has been fired, the allegations may die naturally because not many people would want to suffer the same fate. In all these, Nigeria is the loser.

    Be that as it may, by saying that he suspended Mallam Sanusi, President Jonathan has merely fooled Nigerians. He is only being clever by a quarter, not even by half. It is a slap on our faces because what has happened means that the President knows that he has no power to sack the CBN governor by virtue of section 11, subsection 2(f) of the CBN Act, without at least two-thirds of the Senate members concurring. Yet, he does not like his (Sanusi’s) face (or is it his guts?) and so decided to throw him out with impunity. If all he did was suspend the former CBN governor, why the unholy haste in announcing an acting CBN governor only to follow it up with the nomination of his replacement?

    This kind of decisiveness in not vintage President Jonathan, except when the matter concerns people whose faces he does not like. We know how long it took us to get him remove his former Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, despite the weighty allegations against her. The other, his petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, whose case is even worse than Oduah’s remains on the beat years after Nigerians have come to see her ministry as an epitome of corruption.

    The truth of the matter is that whatever arbitrariness the CBN Act sought to prevent by insulating the apex bank’s governor from an overbearing executive would have been defeated if the bank boss can be suspended the way President Jonathan has done. People get away with these things because they are hardly challenged. It is on this score that I support Mallam Sanusi’s decision to challenge his suspension in court. Even a baby lawyer would know that if you lack the power to remove or sack, you cannot have the power to suspend in this situation, and especially in our kind of clime where government specialises in satanic subterfuge even as it lacks the capacity to deliver good governance. Obviously, the President too might be aware of this point but decided to go ahead with his plan in the hope that Mallam Sanusi would challenge him in court. Given the snail speed at which justice travels in the country, his (Sanusi’s) term would have elapsed by the time the case is decided. In which case, the President would still have had his way.

    It is high time Nigerians rose against this reign of impunity. With two vital parts of our lives – the judiciary and now the CBN – being gradually subdued as it were, we may find it difficult to differentiate between good and bad, or morality and immorality, at the rate this government is perverting the system. Ideally, one would have hinged hope on the Senate but the Upper legislative house as presently constituted cannot be trusted to stop the rampaging government. Otherwise, the starting point would have been to ask it not to confirm the appointment of Zenith Bank boss, Godwin Emefiele as Mallam Sanusi’s successor. Whatever sins Mallam Sanusi might have committed, due process ought to be followed in addressing his case. We should not leave our fate in the hands of any overbearing executive. At the rate we are going under this government, truth would soon join the long list of essential but scarce commodities.

  • Colleagues, friends betrayed me – Justice Salami

    Colleagues, friends betrayed me – Justice Salami

    Retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, on Thursday disclosed that his colleagues and friends in the judiciary betrayed him during his trying time.

    Justice Salami, who likened his case to that of the biblical Joseph, who was sold to slavery, by his family members, faulted roles the National Judicial Council (NJC) played in the events leading to his suspension.

    He contended that NJC, by its conduct, sold out to the Executive and failed in its duties and functions.

    Justice Salami argued that not only was the NJC wrong in suspending him, having lacked the constitutional powers to so act, it also acted wrongly when it asked President Goodluck Jonathan to suspend him.

    Justice Salami, who retired on October 15 as the court’s fifth President, spoke during a valedictory court session held in his honour by the court.

    The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke (SAN) was absent at the event. He also did not send any representative.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar, former CJN, Justice Mohammed Uwais, Justice Mahmood Mohammed of the Supreme Court and the President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo were among those at the event.

    Justice Salami, dressed in the ceremonial gown of Justices of the court, presided over proceedings. He sat on the seat he occupied until August 18, 2011 when he was purportedly suspended by President Jonathan.

    He wondered why the NJC created by the Constitution to protect judicial officers (judges) abandoned its responsibilities and sold out in his case.

     

     

  • Justice Salami’s retirement

    Justice Salami’s retirement

    •His last years of service will haunt the Jonathan presidency and the judiciary for the injustice he suffered

    Justice Ayo Salami, the unlawfully suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), finally bows out of the judiciary after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70. Unfortunately in complete abnegation of the rule of law, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan refused to allow the distinguished jurist, to return to his duty post, despite his later clearance of any wrongdoing by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the constitutional prerogative over him.

    Indeed, it is possible that those who successfully ran roughshod over the constitution in the Justice Salami’s case may be celebrating his final exit, instead of mourning the desecration of our constitution – the foundation of our democracy.

    On our part, however, we condemn without equivocation the action of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly President Jonathan, for the denigration of our constitution. When the history of the presidency of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is etched in words, his complete jack-boot treatment of Justice Salami, a President and Justice of the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Nigeria, may rank among the greatest injustice of the era.

    In a complete mockery of our judicial system, the learned jurist suffered injustice in the hands of President Jonathan, for gallantly fighting for justice. So, for a common man, it will be a hard sell to convince him, that justice can be gotten from our system.

    But the successful persecution of Justice Salami mocks more than President Jonathan. Indeed, it mocks our nation as a republic. For, if indeed we are truly a republic, it would have been impossible for one man, in this case President Jonathan, to have the audacity, to effectively take on the fundamental law of the land, and successfully give it a bloody nose, without any consequence. After all, in our so- called republic, President Jonathan merely heads only one arm of the republic, out of three. So, it is legitimate to state, that the other two arms – the legislature and the judiciary – may have either connived or acquiesced to the maltreatment of Justice Salami.

    But between the two other arms, the judiciary surely is the greater culprit. We say so because the constitution itself envisaged that authorities of the republic, such as President Jonathan in this instance, may occasionally act arbitrarily, and so provided a safeguard. By the provisions of section 6 (6)(b) of the 1999 constitution, the judicial powers of the courts established under the constitution, “shall extend to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any person in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any questions to the civil rights and obligations of that person”. So, we ask, how come the courts could not rise up, to order that justice be done to one of its own?

    Probably the justices in the various courts that Justice Salami approached to give him justice, over his maltreatment by the republic, failed to appreciate that they too are victims of the executive impunity of the President, and the NJC, under the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, retired Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. Now, with the imponderable humiliation of the judiciary successfully carried by the executive at the initial prompting of the NJC, how many judges would have the courage to live up to their oath of office? Let us note, however, that to his credit, Justice Salami suffered with his head unbowed, and history will be kind to him. For those who connived or acquiesced to desecrate our constitution, theirs is to worry, about their own end.

  • Why Justice Salami’s valedictory service was delayed – Court

    Why Justice Salami’s valedictory service was delayed – Court

    The Court of Appeal has explained why it was yet to hold the customary valedictory service for its retired President, Justice Isa Ayo Salami.

    The explanation came in the wake of speculation that the court’s leadership was in a quandary as to whether such event should be held for Justice Salami or not in view of the circumstances leading to his retirement.

    Justice Salami, who formally bowed out of office having attained the mandatory retirement age on October 15, was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan, upon a recommendation by the National Judicial Council (NJC) on August 8, 2011, following a disagreement with then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu.

    Although the NJC later recommended his recall on May 10, 2012 President Jonathan refused to act on the recommendation until Justice Salami attained his retirement age.

    Customarily, it was the tradition of the Court of Appeal to either organise a valedictory court service for its retired Justice immediately he/she retired or make public its plans to do so later.

    The court’s silence on the issue a week after Justice Salami retired fueled speculation that the court’s management was unsure of how to handle the matter.

    When The Nation visited the court’s headquarters on Monday, Justice Salami’s picture, placed alongside that of President Jonathan, on the entrance to the ceremonial court, has been removed.

    A spokesperson of the court, Isa Shuaibu Musa, denied that there was anything unusual.

    Musa, who is the Personal Assistant to the court’s Chief Registrar, said the delay resulted partly from the fact that the day Justice Salami formally vacated the court’s service was a public holiday.

    “There is nothing unusual about the delay. It has not always been the practice that we hold a valedictory service immediately any Justice retires. We have to plan and agree on a convenient date.

    “It is only after that, that we can then send out invitation. There is no way the media will not be aware of such arrangement. You know we are just back from the Sallah holiday. We will surely hold the ceremony anytime soon,” Musa said.