DEEPENING DEMOCRACY: Judicial recklessness and undermining the rule of law

By Jibrin Ibrahim

August 21, 2011 02:50AMT


At its meeting on Thursday, the National Judicial Council suspended Ayo Salami, the President of the Court of Appeal from office and sent a recommendation to the President that he should be compulsorily retired from the judiciary. They acted in spite of the fact that two days previously, they had been served court summons on a case filed by Justice Salami seeking perpetual injunction restraining them from acting on the Umaru Abdullahi and Justice Auta Panels.

Even more scandalous is the fact that the National Judicial Council made concerted efforts to evade service of a legitimate court summons and only accepted it after their action was exposed by the media and they were ridiculed for their illegal and unethical conduct that they ordinarily have the constitutional responsibility to checkmate when others engage in it. The blatant disregard for the rule of law they displayed is a reckless attitude that has huge potential for undermining the rule of law in our society. By their action, they are encouraging others to avoid court summons with flimsy excuses.

For the Council to receive the court summons on Tuesday and still disregard it on Thursday and take the actions they took is a clear message that the rule of law does not apply to them. Black’s Law Dictionary defines the rule of law as: “A principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and all entities, public and private, including the state itself are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated.” It is the responsibility of the National Judicial Council to protect and enforce the rule of law so when they breach it willfully, it means the entire Council is not fit for purpose.

The Council not only evaded court summons but went ahead to consider and make a definitive pronouncement on a matter that is pending in court. This act of lawlessness must be resisted by all citizens interested in the edification of democracy and the rule of law. They must immediately withdraw their decision or face a national mobilisation aimed at forcing all those who participated in the decision out of the institution.

It is so clear that they were out to do a hatchet job before their boss, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, retires in a few days time. The fact that they set up the Justice Auta Panel when they failed to get what they wanted from the Justice Abdullahi Panel means they had taken an a priori decision and were shopping for a mechanism to implement it. The entire matter had been sordid from the very beginning. The Supreme Court had intervened in a matter that was not before it on the Sokoto State gubernatorial elections after allegedly surreptitiously trying to manipulate the President of the Court of Appeal. They had tried to promote him out of the Court of Appeal for reasons we can only speculate on. As most members of the National Judicial Council are appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria who is the accused in the original case, shopping for mechanisms to deal with his accuser compromises every principle of justice.

There are many cases of judicial misconduct that have been before the National Judicial Council for years awaiting deliberations. Why did they set everything aside and act in what in judicial circles would be considered the speed of light in removing Justice Salami from the bench. They even refused to await the return of Justice Musdapher, who was supposed to chair the meeting.

As Justice Salami had been cleared of the allegations against him emanating from the Ekiti and Osun States Appeal Courts, asking him to apologies is meaningless. If he has perjured as they stated, he should be punished as the law says after a legitimate court process. To simply ask to make an apology is wrong.

The recklessness of the National Judicial Council can easily lead us to a constitutional crisis because when the apex judicial organ violates its mandate and our law, then the other branches, the Executive and the Legislature might have to intervene thus breaking the principle of the separation of powers in our Constitution. The way forward is to the Nigerian Bar Association to take the leadership in getting them to rescind their decision, and if they fail, citizens should embark on a public campaign to disband the present membership of the Council.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/5739433-182/story.csp

There are many cases of judicial misconduct that have been before the National Judicial Council for years awaiting deliberations. Why did they set everything aside and act in what in judicial circles would be considered the speed of light in removing Justice Salami from the bench. They even refused to await the return of Justice Musdapher, who was supposed to chair the meeting.

Abeg, help me ask dem OOOOOOO !!!! Same old BS . "Fresh air" ko transformer Government ni !!!