Jonathan’s action confounds civil society

By Segun Balogun

August 23, 2011 02:22AM
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The swift reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan in appointing an acting president of the Court of Appeal left the civil society body in Lagos confounded on Monday.

The body had organised its rank and formed a broad based group, Civil Society Coalition against Injustice, to protest the recommendation sent to the president on August 18 by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to the effect that the Appeal Court president, Isa Salami, should be suspended indefinitely.

Before their first rally slated for yesterday could hold, President Goodluck, on Sunday, an unofficial day, implemented the recommendation and appointed Dalhatu Adamu in acting position.

The body never believed Mr Jonathan could act that fast, considering his well-known reticent profile. [b]Even Babatunde Fashola, the Lagos State governor, who received the body’s protest letter, was equally confounded.

While addressing the protesters, led by Ayo Opadokun, Mr Fashola expressed “concern about what seems to be a very quick rush to effect the NJC recommendation.”

“There are many urgent problems facing this country that have not received such urgent quick attention. I am wondering whether that should be our priority for now. Within a very short time, with the knowledge that the matter is pending before the court, the decision has been taken to supplant the President of the Court of Appeal,” said the governor.

Mr Jonathan’s “strange speed” was as confounding as the air of “illegality” that surrounded his decision.

The NJC had given Mr Salami seven days to publicly apologise to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alloysus Katina-Alu, following the recommendation of the report of a fact finding committee setup to investigate allegations and counter allegations levelled against each other by both Mr Salami and Mr Katsina-Alu over matters of gubernatorial election petition tribunal.

Mr Salami filed a lawsuit instead. Rather than allow for the determination of the lawsuit, the NJC went ahead to recommend Mr Salami’s retirement. Though the recommendation was stridently criticised across the country as contemptuous of the court and unconstitutional, the president went ahead to implement it.

“It is rather disappointing to find that judicial officers who are supposed to protect the integrity of the law are engaging in judicial recklessness and lawlessness,” stated the protest letter, which was addressed to the president through Mr Fashola and titled, ‘Desecration of the Nigerian Judiciary by the National Judicial Council’.
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The letter, signed by Olanrewaju Suraju and Sina Loremikan, “make bold to say that the roles being played by men and women who occupy the National Judicial Council in recent times are quite appalling and destructive of our national existence.”

Mr Fashola could not agree less as he spoke of the impact of the whole saga as more treasonable than self-serving.

“At various times, we have had to deal with messages threatening the existence of our nation. Let me say here that those signs are with us now,” said Mr Fashola.

“They will not come in physical form like earthquake which will threaten the physical existence of our nation; rather, they will come in the manners we are now witnessing, in breaching law and order and collapse of institutions. But when institutions succeed or fail, it is men and women in charge that have either succeeded or failed,” he added.

He said the judiciary is “perhaps the most critical institution that sustains democracy. The vehicle for conflict resolution, and if it is now an object of conflict haywire manipulation, such is an ominous sign for our country.”

The protesters demanded that: the NJC be dissolved with immediate effect and that a probe be conducted into its affairs; that the Chief Justice of Nigeria be removed from office, arrested, and prosecuted for perjury; that the suspension of Mr Salami is null and void because NJC has no power to suspend him.

They threatened that “until the above demands are met, we shall make this country ungovernable and no court shall sit, as we do not want to be judged by agents of injustice, indiscretion and power-drunk judicial Lilliputians of unworthy character.”

Pukkah:

The President seems to be getting his priorities right. How come the same type of speed and energy that he applied on the issue of President of Court of Appeal and Single Tenure has not been used to address the bad roads or Boko Haram menace?

Gbawe:

Indeed . Let us not forget that this same President , as C-in-C , ignored the Ogun State legislative impeachment imbroglio instigated by his then campaign coordinator for the SW i.e Gbenga Daniel. That sad disgrace went on , for months, till the end of Daniel's reign as Ogun Governor !!!! Now we see instantaneous and dictatorial action from GEJ that supports conduct unanimously decreed as patently illegal by the finest legal brains in Nigeria to include Fashola who is himself a distinguished Lawyer and SAN.

Pukkah:

It is a pity that this is the kind of President with which Nigeria has become saddled. It is even more pitiful that some Nigerians still find grounds, mostly driven by ethnicity, religion, party affiliation etc, to defend and shield Mr Jonathan from the expected fire of office.  In doing so, they conveniently forget that poverty and under-development know no tribe, political party or religion or any other man-made divisions among people.

We are all in this together and one way of ameliorating the leadership debacle which Jonathan has come to sadly represent at this critical period in our national life is to put him under pressure and hopefully force some results from his obviously lack-lustre and uninspiring government.

Soyinka denounces NJC, lawyers boo Adoke
By Simon Utebor, Port Harcourt
Tuesday, 23 Aug 2011
 

Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has described the suspension and removal of the President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, as illegal, unconstitutional, misguided and improper.

Soyinka said this in Port Harcourt on Monday few minutes after the members of the Nigerian Bar Association booed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, for his unsatisfactory explanation on the removal of Salami by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Soyinka and Adoke spoke on Monday at the National Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association holding in Port Harcourt.

In a keynote address, entitled, ‘Sustaining an enduring democracy in Nigeria’, Soyinka berated the NJC for taking decisions that were “improper, illegal, self-destructive, ill-advised, counter-productive, irresponsible and unconstitutional.”

The effort of the Adoke to justify Jonathan’s decision to appoint an acting President for the Court Appeal, was booed by lawyers.

Adoke, who represented Jonathan at the conference, held at the Alfred Diette-Spiff Civic Centre, said the crisis in the bar was capable of derailing the judicial system hence the President had no option but to act fast by appointing the acting President of the court.

“The unity in the bar is fast eroded. We do all we could to sustain our nascent democracy. The reforms undertaken in the judicial system by the FG was key to the present administration,” he said.

Adoke was booed by the audience over what many lawyers regarded as a “shameful” explanation trying to justify an anti-people’s decision which attracted their contempt.

Meanwhile, NBA President, Joseph Daudu, proposed to the members of the Bar that they should begin a boycott of the courts until further notice.

The boycott is to protest the decision of the NJC on Salami and the approval of their recommendation by Jonathan.

Daudu said the NBA would boycott the courts to show its total objection to the controversial decision by the NJC, a council which many believed was acting out the script prepared for it by the embattled Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.

In his remarks, the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, described the NBA as an institution for the rich and not for the poor Nigerians who could not afford the huge amount of money for justice.

Soyinka faulted the fears expressed by some Nigerians over the proposed Islamic banking as being championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He explained that it was not the Islamic banking system that was responsible for the breakdown of social infrastructure such as education, health, power supply among others.

He said, “Any Nigerian has the right to apply for any system of banking as much as such process conforms with the laid down laws of the nation. How has the non interest banking contravened the law of the land.

“Non-interest banking which also exists in other countries like the United Kingdom, the United States among others, was not responsible for the global financial melt down, the militancy crisis in the Niger Delta region and the Boko Haram in some states of northern Nigeria.

“We need to come together and engage the protocol of national conference and dialogue as the surest way of moving the country forward.”

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the NBA, Port Harcourt Branch, Mr. Worgu Boms, assured the lawyers that the conference, last held in Port Harcourt in 2006, would be both exciting and professionally rewarding.

He said over 2,000 lawyers practise in Rivers State and were organised into Port Harcourt, Ahoada and Isiokpo branches.

Boms said, “Many of our notable lawyers and nearly every SAN with a national fame, although with practice base outside Port Harcourt, have more net-worth clientele from and in Port Harcourt, than in their domicile of practice.

“Port Harcourt is playing host to the NBA’s conference, less than a decade after it hosted the same conference in 2006. I am not aware that any city has twice hosted this August gathering within a decade.

“Port Harcourt is a destination of choice for business, conferences and even for leisure. Port Harcourt is the most peaceful place in Nigeria.”

Also, protesters under the aegis of Campaign Against Corruption in the Judiciary;Lawyers of Conscience, Social Action and Civil Society Coalition, beseiged the conference to lend their voice to the rift in the bench.

Gbawe:

Indeed . Let us not forget that this same President , as C-in-C , ignored the Ogun State legislative impeachment imbroglio instigated by his then campaign coordinator for the SW i.e Gbenga Daniel. That sad disgrace went on , [b]for months, till the end of Daniel's reign as Ogun Governor !!!! [/b] Now we see instantaneous and dictatorial action from GEJ that supports conduct unanimously decreed as patently illegal by the finest legal brains in Nigeria to include Fashola who is himself a distinguished Lawyer and SAN.

teskyg:

If GEJ no react dem go say he is slow ;now he react dem say he is fast and quick, Nigerians, i too know attitude,

Greenpro:

Mr Jona should have allow the court to finish that own b4 sending salami away.

teskyg:

If GEJ no react dem go say he is slow ;now he react dem say he is fast and quick, Nigerians, i too know attitude,

Thatdave:

the constitution actually reads 'the president SHALL on the recommendation of the national judiciary council. . .'
the word 'shall' there means that the president has no other option! Cant even say no. 'shall' is the present of 'should'. GS 101.

X-factoria:

Gbawe, you still keeping up with this goof of yours?

Do you know what the constitution says on quorum in the state assembly?? The law book only requires only 1/3rd of the house members to form a quorum. See excerpt from the constitution below (Section 96, subsection 1):

" 95. (1) At any sitting of a House of Assembly, the Speaker of that House shall preside, and in his absence the Deputy Speaker shall preside.
(2) In the absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, such member of the House as the House may elect for a purpose shall preside.
96. (1) The quorum of a House of Assembly shall be one-third of all the members of the House. "

It was a coup that appeared as a charade but in the face of the law, it is correct. You keep following the majority opinion that it is wrong when a court of law validly upheld the scenario. Ogun State has 24 members and 1/3rd of that is 8. The G-9 in favour of Gbenga Daniel had 9 members of which Coker Soyemi was one. They formed a valid quorum according to the constitution and the luckily had the mase of the speaker made available to them to conduct the business of the house because there was actually supposed to be a house sitting on that day that the G-15 boycotted for reasons best known to them.

Jonathan is more knowledgeable than you in this one

teskyg:

@-factoria.[b]You do well.[/b]Explain to all these ACN and CPC morons.

Although the National Judicial Council has the power, under the Third Schedule, Part I, Paragraph I, Section 21(b) of the Constitution to recommend to the President the removal from office of the President of the Court of Appeal and exercise “disciplinary control” over him, it is clear that by virtue of Section 292(1)( a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, any recommendation of removal of the President of the Court of Appeal from his Judicial Office can only be effected by the President, acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate.

For the avoidance of doubt, the said Third Schedule, Part I, Paragraph I, Section 21(b) of the Constitution provides that “ the NJC shall have power to recommend to the President the removal from office of (the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of Appeal, and the Chief Judge and Judges of the Federal High Court) and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers”

Section 292(1)( a)(i) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 provides that “a judicial officer shall not be removed from his office or appointment before his age of retirement, except in the following circumstances (a) in the case of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the President of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and President, Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by the President( of Nigeria), acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate, praying that he be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct”.


It is our contention that just as in the case of removal of the President of the Court of Appeal from office, any exercise of power of “disciplinary control” over him, such as this suspension, must be subject to the approval of the President, acting on an address of two-third majority of the Senate. The correct interpretation of the above-cited provisions of the Constitution is that if the President of the Court of Appeal can only be removed from office only when a two-third address of the Senate directs the President to do so, in the same vein, the President of the Court can only be effectually and consummately suspended from office by the NJC, with a two third endorsement of the Senate and a decision of the President to that effect. This is the principle of checks and balances that is crafted into the Constitution.

X-factoria:

The power of the National Judicial Council is not subject to any court of law. The body has authority to deal with disciplinary cases involving members of the bench. Jonathan cannot really do more than refer the case back to them if he so wish albeit he should not be seen as encouraging indiscipline among judicial officers. So, there is really nothing he can do about it.

Make una leave Jonathan alone abeg!!!!!!!

passyjango:

You do not know what you are talking about. Are you saying that NJC is above the law? Even the Nigerian constitution makes it clear that any law that goes contrary to it is to that extent null and void. I am not a lawyer, but I know this.

No one is saying that NJC does not have the power to remove Salami. The argument is, why do that with a case still pending in court. Why not clear the court case first? What is so special about removing Salami that you are willing to do it in contravention of the laws of the land.

Then for the coconut head, why did he not seek proper legal advice before rushing to enforce the recommendation? What does he stand to gain?

Gbawe:

Totally pointless responding to folks like yourself. Respected constitutional lawyers have done the topic to death and concluded the impeachment was illegal. Of course there will always be folks like you wishing to 'spin' what is obvious with half-clever attempts at dubious 'grey' interpretations . Those with time can indulge you but certainly not me.

Do well at what? X-Factoria , even factoring his amateur attempt at constitution law, is not more knowledgeable than the NBA , Fashola and many, many legal analysts and expert constitutional lawyers who have condemned this action. Only an  , with time, will bandy amateur semantics with x-factoria.  Some of you should leave your hat of partisanship off sometimes.

http://saharareporters.com/press-release/justice-salami%E2%80%99s-suspension-njc-illegal-and-unconstitutional

passyjango:

You do not know what you are talking about. Are you saying that NJC is above the law? Even the Nigerian constitution makes it clear that any law that goes contrary to it is to that extent null and void. I am not a lawyer, but I know this.

No one is saying that NJC does not have the power to remove Salami. The argument is, why do that with a case still pending in court. Why not clear the court case first? What is so special about removing Salami that you are willing to do it in contravention of the laws of the land.

Then for the coconut head, why did he not seek proper legal advice before rushing to enforce the recommendation? What does he stand to gain?

Gbawe:

Of course he does not. Constitutional law experts and prominent lawyers like Femi Falana have done this topic to death and shown , plainly and without ambiguity , how the actions of the NJC flouts the provision of the constitution . Anyone who takes x-factoria seriously must be uninformed and easily decieved by the words of a person that carries no expert authority.

teskyg:

@-factoria.You do well.Explain to all these ACN and CPC morons.

X-factoria:

Gbawe,

However, on the Salami issue, I admit that I read the part of the constitution I quoted in Isolation of Section 292. I apologize.

Beaf:

Have you wondered why none of these lawyers has taken the matter to court? The reason they haven't is that the action was 100% constitutional.
Anybody saying the opposite should prove, not go around screaming purely emotional nonsense like mad people.

The fact is that Salami was bent and it is those in whose favour he was bent that are making empty noises.