NJC suspends Salami, recommends his retirement to Jonathan

By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja Friday, 19 Aug 2011 The National Judiciary Council on Thursday suspended the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, for refusing to apologise to the Council and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. The NJC, after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, August 9, 2011, had given Salami an ultimatum to apologise in writing to the Council and Katsina-Alu within seven days. The Council said Salami had lied on oath against it and the CJN.  The seven days ultimatum expired on Tuesday, August 16, 2011. But Salami refused to apologise. Rather, he had dragged the Council before an Abuja Federal High Court a day to the expiry date, on Monday, August 15, 2011. Salami had asked the Court for 15 reliefs, including a perpetual injunction restraining the NJC from acting on the reports of the Umaru Abdullahi Fact-Finding Committee and the Justice Auta Review Panel. In the suit, Salami said that the two panels had no right to determine whether he was guilty of perjury as they had imputed in their reports, adding that the Abdullahi and Auta committees were administrative panels that could not assume the status of a court. He also said the Auta Panel did not give him a right to fair hearing before pronouncing him guilty. Salami argued that an NJC panel headed by Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, had earlier cleared him of any misconduct on the same matter investigated by the Abdullahi and Auta committees. Although it accepted the court summons on Tuesday after refusing to accept same a day earlier on the grounds that the copies were unsigned and undated, the NJC went ahead to meet on the matter on Thursday. In a statement signed by the Council’s Director of Administration, Mr. E.I. Odukwu, and released after the meeting, the NJC directed Salami to immediately hand over to the next most senior justice of the Appeal Court. The statement reads, “Pursuant to the powers conferred on the National Judicial Council in the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, OFR, President of the Court of Appeal has been suspended from office with effect from today 18th August, 2011. “The decision was reached at the 7th Emergency Meeting of the Council held on 18th August, 2011. “Council further directs that Hon. Justice Salami should hand over the affairs of the Court of Appeal to the next most senior justice of the court.” The NJC also forwarded a recommendation to President Goodluck Jonathan “to retire him from service.” However, the NJC in arriving at the decision did not make any reference to the suit filed by Salami at the Federal High Court in Abuja where he had challenged the report of the Justice Umaru Abduallahi panel which investigated him and Katsina-Alu for alleged misconduct. Another sub-committee of the NJC, headed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, had recommended that Salami should tender a written apology to both Katsina-Alu and the council. The Auta-led committee had also recommended that the PCA be warned for breaching the Code of Conduct. After deliberations on the reports of the two committees it set up on the allegations levelled against Salami, Katsina-Alu and some justices of the Court of Appeal, at an emergency meeting in August, the NJC had decided that Salami’s allegation that the CJN instructed him to direct the Sokoto Governorship Appeal Tribunal to dismiss the appeal by the Democratic Peoples Party of Nigeria was false. It added that it amounted to a misconduct contrary to Rule 1 (1) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  Katsina-Alu was exonerated of any wrongdoing and the Council decided that he acted in good faith and was motivated by the apparent urge to protect the administration of justice and avoid breach of peace when he directed that the judgment in the Sokoto Governorship Appeal be ‘put on hold’ pending the investigation of the petitions he had received on the matter. The Council also decided that justices of Court of Appeal who served on the Sokoto State Governorship Appeal Panel namely: Hon. Justices Musa Dattijo Mohammad, Paul A. Galinje, John Inyang Okoro, Mas’oud Oredola and Regina O. Nwodo, had no case to answer. Salami himself, as well as the justices who served on the Ekiti and Osun states Governorship Election Petitions Appeal Tribunals namely; Justices Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, O. Ariwoola, Chiman Centus Nweze and Adamu Jauro, was also cleared of charges of “unethical communication” as the call logs on which the allegation was based were found to lack authenticity. In a swift reaction to the development, Salami described his suspension by the NJC as unconstitutional. Salami, who spoke through one of his lawyers, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), told our correspondent that it was unfortunate that the NJC could go ahead with the matter when it was aware that he had filed a case in court on the issue.  He said, “We have just heard about it and we believe that the action is unconstitutional. It is illegal and the action cannot stand.  “This is because the NJC had a copy of the court notice before it and the council also advertised in newspapers that it has collected the court process.  “The council said it had a copy of the complaint by the complainant and still went ahead to take a decision on an issue that is before a court of law.  “It is not the first time that some people will be taking an action against the rule of law. We have had it during the impeachment saga of the former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, when a panel was constituted when a case was already in court against such action.”  The PAC said he would be heading back to court on the matter, adding that he was sure that justice would be done at the end of the day.   SOURCE: Punch Newspaper 19 August 2011 http://punchontheweb.com