CJN/ SALAMI SAGA: What an unprecedented slur on Judiciary! By KAYODE KETEFE Although the Nigerian Judiciary is not new to managing scandals bordering on its reputation, the recent face-off between the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami over the 'elevation' of the latter, which snowballed into open exchanges of irreverent mudslinging between these very senior judicial officers, is different from the usual hues of disturbing developments. Never has there been a case of clear judicial osteoporosis, wasting away the skeletal structure of the hallowed judicial institution. We have had cases like the June 12 ex parte saga where conflicting injunctions on the same subject matter emanated from the courts of coordinate jurisdiction. Cases abound where serving judges had been removed with ignominy; we have had instances where accusing fingers were pointed at judges over some questionable decisions. The nearest incident to the one at hand, however, was when a former CJN, Justice Muhamadu Uwais, received a shock of his life right there in the hallowed chambers of the Supreme Court, when he and his panel of judges were accused of corruption in the open court, in the James Ibori's case by two lawyers. The lawyers who levelled the audacious accusations inevitably had to face the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee and were eventually disrobed. Even that case cannot be compared with the present 'elevation' saga featuring the earth-shaking revelation of Salami against the number one judicial officer in the country. At the height of this unusual altercation, Salami had filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja where he made depositions accusing the CJN of asking him to pervert the course of Justice in the Sokoto State governorship election petition. Justice Salami had reportedly got a wind of his now-botched elevation to the Supreme Court before the offer was made to him by the CJN, and he had formed a theory on why the unwanted promotion was being foisted on him. The CJN for his part had also glibly defended his position, stressing he was actuated by a benign intention 'to strengthen the Supreme Court'. Salami was not flattered by this implied eulogy that his inclusion would enhance the intellectual resources at the apex court; rather he interpreted it as a singular ploy to consign him into a dignified irrelevance. While one cannot say categorically that the CJN maliciously designed to cast him into irrelevance by the promotion, it is an inescapable fact that a Salami at the Supreme Court at this particular time would be a pragmatically powerless Salami. To start with, by virtue of seniority that obtains in the judicial parlance, he would have to queue up behind the last judge at the Supreme Court; that means he has been cast from the headship of the second most powerful court in Nigeria to a 'nondescript' membership of the apex court where he could entertain no hope of career progression, having but only two years to retire. Furthermore, as the President of the Court of Appeal, Salami wields the power of constituting the various panels that would adjudicate, among other matters, the governorship and legislative houses election petitions, and given the fact that we are in the elections period, it could been seen Salami's position is very pivotal. The mere fact that the latest amendment to the 1999 Constitution has removed the barrier which hitherto made Court of Appeal the court of last resort in the governorship and legislative houses election petitions does not significantly detract from this fact. On the other hand, if Salami finds himself in the Supreme Court, he would be at the mercy of the CJN who has the power to fix him into any panel at his discretion. So, applying the test of a reasonable man, Salami's theory that the attempted elevation was a calculated legal masterstroke to get rid of him, appears plausible, irrespective of whether it is actually true or not. The unprecedented tragedy inherent in this crisis could be gleaned from the fact that head or tail, the Judiciary is in trouble. It is either Salami is telling the true or not, if he is telling the true, you know the implication, if not, that means the Head of the all-powerful Court of Appeal has desecrated the sanctity of the judiciary by telling lies in the affidavit deposed to in the court of law! Then, it is either Judiciary is endangered at the appellate court level or at the apex level-neither is cheering news. We had all been nurtured into believing that at a particular level of its rung, the conservative Judiciary, with its 'freemasonry' obsession to kill off the publicity of every snippet of its mortal failings, is too strong to permit the eruption of this kind of scandal, but no, the latest saga has shown that their lordships are human beings after all, and are ineluctably amenable to human frailties. Finally, Salami's volcanic accusation, if it is true, would mean there has been an affront to the independence of the judiciary, because any attempt by a judge to manipulate a fellow judge would be a blatant negation of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Rule 8 of the said Code states that a Judicial Officer should "should abstain from comment about a pending or impending proceeding in any court in this country, and should require similar abstention on the part of court personnel under his direction and control." So Salami's accusation should be investigated as sweeping it under the carpet would do more harm to the good, if not lofty image the Judiciary had, in spite of all odds, managed to establish over the years, the image which, unfortunately, is now tottering. |
Finding fabulous fares is fun.
Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. --
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment