Reinstatement of Salami to office a wishful thinking - Society for Rule of Law

AN Abuja-based non-governmental organisation, the Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN), has described the planned return of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami, to office as wishful thinking, saying, “no amount of blackmail, threat and other clandestine plots can bring him back (Salami) to office.”

The group also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to retire Justice Salami in accordance with the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommendation of August 18, 2011, adding that, “The earlier the Salami judicial debacle is laid to rest, the better for the judiciary in the country.”

In a statement issued on Sunday, by its coordinator, Mr Chima Ubeku, the SRLN said, “it is even more suicidal to the judiciary for the Judicial Reform Stakeholders Committee headed by retired Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Uwais to have made recommendations on a matter that is still pending before the court, and went ahead to present the report to NJC, which is a party to the cases in court for ratification.”

The group, which described as misleading and fraudulent a report in a national newspaper of Saturday that the report of the Justice Uwais committee had been sent to President Jonathan for implementation, noted that the NJC, which suspended Justice Salami and asked the president to retire him, was yet to consider the report.

“From our findings, over 13 out of the 29 members of the Justice Uwais Committee did not sign the controversial report, and we have evidence to that effect,”the group said.

“Also, as at last week Thursday that the NJC met, Justice Salami issue was not discussed because of the pendency of three cases on it.

“So how could the Justice Uwais report have been sent to the president?

“Again, it would even have been more fraudulent for the NJC to have deliberated on a report from a Committee unilaterally set-up by the CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher. Or was there anywhere that the NJC met to take decision on the Justice Uwais Committee before it was set up by the CJN?

“Therefore, if the CJN could set up the Justice Uwais committee without the consent of NJC, his employer, the CJN can as well go ahead and implement the report instead of trying to use the NJC to give credibility to a controversial report,” SRLN said.