[size=14pt]Groups want Salami investigated [/size]
By Ifedayo Adebayo
February 23, 2011 02:35AM

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Several groups have called for the investigation of the alleged clandestine telephone calls between the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami and leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) during the hearing of the appeal cases of governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti states.

Reacting to the allegation, the Ekiti Justice Group, in a statement by its Coordinator, Tunji Oluwasanmi, described Mr Salami’s leadership of the Appeal Court as “a threat to democracy”.

Mr. Oluwasanmi said “From what we read today (yesterday), Salami, Tinubu and others have questions to answer on the Ekiti and Osun governorship appeal cases.”

Another group, the Elections Transparency Group, described the allegation as “messy and scandalous” and called on the National Judicial Council, the Supreme Court and relevant government agencies to expedite action on the petitions with a view to correcting any act of injustice or crime in the matter.

Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Segun Oni, the former governors of Osun and Ekiti states respectively, who were removed from office last year by the Appeal Court, had petitioned the National Judicial Council and President Goodluck Jonathan claiming that Mr Salami was influenced to give judgment in favour of their opponents in the 2007 elections. The petitioners say they have evidence of the call exchange between Mr. Salami and leaders of the ACN.

The petitions

Messrs Oni and Oyinlola are fighting what they believe is injustice against them. After spending about three years in office as governors of their respective states, the duo were sacked after the Appeal Court ruled that they did not win elections.

In Ekiti State, Mr. Oni was replaced with the ACN’s Kayode Fayemi while Mr. Oyinlola lost his post in Osun State to Rauf Aregbesola, also of the ACN.

But in similar petitions to the judicial council and Mr. Jonathan, the former governors said “the Appeal Court judgment was a product of fraud.’’

Stating his readiness to supply more proof if required, Mr. Oni, in the petition to the President, claimed he forwarded “along with this petition, printed copies of CALL LOGS from Sept 2010-Jan 2011, on Justice Ayo Salami.”

The duo alleged that Tunji Ijaiya, whom they called Mr. Salami’s friend, had used subscriber number 08034010700 to help the Judge transact business with the ACN leaders and their lawyers, “in the unholy business of miscarriage of justice, from the month of September 2010 up to October 2010 when the judges wrote and delivered the judgment in Ekiti, and up till January this year, Justice Salami, Justice Adamu Jauro and the said agent, Ijaiya, were in close telephone contact by voice or SMS with counsel to ACN candidate and officials of the party.”

When NEXT called the number alleged to be Mr. Ijaiya’s, it was unanswered. A text message later sent to the number asking for response to the allegation was replied thus “Tunji Ijayi, (sic) don’t bother yourself about this malicious allegation. God is with you and all things will be under His control. All these allegation of phone scandal that are raised by PDP stalwarts are the handiwork of some politicians and highly placed judicial officers who are all out to tarnish your image and destroy the system, because you exposed their illicit act in the judiciary. Sir, stand with your good character that you’re known with. Never compromise with those unscrupulous elements. God bless you sir. (Bello A. Abubakar Sokoto).”

A long list

The petitioners also accused many legal practitioners of being accomplices in the arrangement of cases with Mr. Salami’s influence. It stated that the following legal practitioners, who represented the ACN at Election Appeal Tribunals at various times were involved in the crisis. Those named are Lateef Fagbemi 08033246788); Akintola Adeniyi: (08037643770); Nnaemeka Ngige: (08035240990); Ricky Tarfa : (08034600000); Ibrahim Abdullahi: (08033896874, 08037041655).

However, one of the lawyers, Mr. Akintola rebuffed the allegation claiming that the lawyers listed were those who represented Mr. Salami in his case against the Chief Justice of the Federation.

“We have taken up the matter already. We are doing a letter and sending it to Compass and Mr. Oni tomorrow to retract it and pay N50 million damages to me.

“The only thing they gave was our conversation with Justice Salami over a case that we just filed. I happen to be one of the lawyers that filed his recent case. If you check, all the names they mentioned are the ones representing Justice Salami in his case with the CJN.

“Fagbemi has never handled a case for the ACN. In fact, Fagbemi is their lawyer in PDP. Ricky Tarfa has never handled anything for ACN. Emeka Ngige has never handled anything for ACN in the West. Ibrahim Abdulahi they mentioned was counsel to Segun Agagu. In my own case, I represented ACN yes, but I never had anything to do with Salami. I have never set my eyes on him until August last year when we held the NBA conference in Kaduna, where he delivered a lecture.

“After that, when he had problem with this elevation issue, I happened to be one of the lawyers and all of us who happened to file the case for Salami, are the ones they mentioned in that petition.

“You’ll have to discuss with your client, if you don’t discuss with your client, who will you discuss with?

“Oni, should just publish the time and date of my conversations with Salami.”

Fayemi keeps mum

When contacted to comment on the matter, Mojeed Jamiu, the media aide to Mr. Fayemi, the incumbent governor of Ekiti State, said his principal has nothing to respond to as Mr. Fayemi’s name was not mentioned in the petition.

“The allegation was not directed to us, so contact NJC on whatever might have been sent to them. So far the name of the governor is not there, I don’t think there is a need for comment.”

Other ACN members mentioned in the petition includes; Bola Tinubu (08034240000), Lai Mohammed, Olatunji Kayode Olowolafe, and Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

However, in a statement yesterday by Mr. Mohammed, the National Publicity Secretary, and one of those accused in the issue, the ACN warned the ruling PDP and top federal government officials not to attempt to throw Nigeria into an avoidable crisis over their “desperation” to reverse the Appeal Court judgments on the Ekiti and Osun governorship election petitions.

Mr. Mohammed, said that Appeal Court judgments in the cases are final, “irrespective of what the ousted governors are being told by their starry-eyed advisers or the buttons they are pressing at the federal government level.”

The party accused the PDP of planning to use the allegation as bait to re-open the cases and overturn the judgments.

It, however, warned that the ruling party should be “ready for an epic battle, the end of which no one can predict, and the consequences of which can only be imagined.

“If the petitioners and their sponsors want to really convince Nigerians about their allegations, they should be courageous enough to publish all the call logs of Justice Salami during the period in question, so that all can see all the calls that Justice Salami received during the period.”


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Looks like Salami is in very hot okro soup.

hahahah, normal okro soup could drawn him out, don't you think a bony fish okro soup