RE :We Stand by our Decision on Salami –NJC

RE :We Stand by our Decision on Salami –NJC

When I saw the caption above on the pages of the September 6^th edition of the vanguard Newspaper ,I was filled with anger and wonder what kind of country we live in where the powerful minority have formed a disgraceful habit of taking the passive though vocal majority for granted.

The NJC are out to defend their unpopular decision to suspend and even end the career of the President of Court of Appeal, justice Ayo Salami for what they termed as his violation of the code of conduct of judicial officers. In a shameful display of their orchestrated plans to finally get rid of salami .

The Director of administration one Mr E.I Odukwu spoke with gentle men of the press ,issuing a statement entitled “National Judicial Council and its powers under the 1999 constitution: setting the records straight”, dismissed allegations of judicial witch-hunt against Justice Salami, arguing that all the parties in the matter were accorded fair hearing by the investigative panels that looked into allegations of judicial malpractices leveled against the suspended PCA and the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.

Odukwu contended that the suspension slammed against the embattled PCA would remain legally valid considering that “the NJC is the highest statutory judicial administrative body created among others, under section 153 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.”

The NJC termed the supporters of Salami as pro-Salami Group and also labeled the lawyers who spoke on the matter as biased people who are out to misinform the public.

I will like to raise a few simple points here, simple enough for the self righteous men of the NJC to digest

1. Was the NJC right to have recommended the suspension of Justice Ayo Salami when the Matter was already in a court of Law? Was this not a breach of the Rule of Law by those who are supposed to protect it?

2 It is a notorious fact that the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. With the NJC at his disposal attempted to “Post” Justice Ayo Salami (a serving President of the court of Appeal to the Supreme Court ,.an unprecedented act of disguised demotion done in bad faith(obviously) and a taboo to those those who has penetrated the inner shrine of the Nigerian Judiciary. This is not only a glaring display of judicial recklessness but an outright violation of the code of conduct of a judicial officer . Obviously the Former CJN was acting a script to get rid of the Justice Ayo Salami at that point exploring all possibilities. I would have expected Him to be told to apologies to the Justice Ayo Salami and the Entire Judiciary.

The NJC as it is presently constituted are championing a cause that is not only unpopular among the generality of Nigerians but disgracefully engaging in what can be termed as a strategic misrepresentation of issues raised against the Suspension of Justice Ayo Salami. The NJC is supposed to be a judicial council made up of principled men not a coven where wicked souls acts according to the dictates of some satanic plot to ensure that Justice and logical reasoning does not prevail.