By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA — President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, has prayed the National Judicial Council, NJC, allow him to call four retired Justices of the Supreme Court to give evidence before its probe panel, just as he stressed his resolve to prove that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, lied on oath.

Salami who made this plea, weekend, equally urged the Justice Umaru Abdullahi-led five-man probe panel to disregard the controversial call logs tendered before it by former Governors Olagunsoya Onyinola and Chief Segun Oni of Ogun and Ekiti states respectively, describing it as “fabricated falsehood by seasoned blackmailers.”

He pleaded with the panel, which is currently scrutinizing his official conduct and that of the CJN, following their alleged breach of professional ethics, to grant him the opportunity to prove the culpability of the latter, insisting that he has enough evidence to sink the CJN.

Salami said the ex-justices who should be compelled to give evidence before the panel included Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, Justice A B Wali, Justice Anthony Iguh, Justice Emmanuel Olayinka Ayoola, who was also the immediate past chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ,ICPC, and a one-time president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi.

The CJN had in his evidence-in-chief before the panel, maintained that he never interfered with the proceedings of the Sokoto State governorship election petition appeal, even as he dismissed all the allegations that were raised against him by Justice Salami as blatant falsehood.

The PCA on the other hand, implored the panel to concentrate on germane issues of corruption he raised against Katsina-Alu, maintaining that the only way to establish a case of perjury against the CJN would be to subpoena the four ex-justices of the apex court to appear and give evidence on the matter.

The aforementioned ex-jurists who Salami insisted should be compelled to appear before the Justice Abdullahi-led probe panel, were all members of a separate committee of the NJC, who had in a report dated March 8, 2010, allegedly indicted the CJN of undue interference in the proceedings of the Sokoto state election petition appeal.

The said report of the committee contained its findings on the investigation of two petitions forwarded to the NJC by one Yahaya Mahmood of Arewa Chambers, Kaduna and Mr. Alfred N. Agu of Renaissance Practitioners, Abuja.

The petitioners had enjoined the judicial body to review the conduct of Justice Salami and the other justices of the Court of Appeal, who presided over the appeal that emanated from the verdict of the Sokoto governorship election dispute.

The CJN who by virtue of his position, superintends over the NJC, had upon receipt of the two petitions, written a letter to the justices of the Court of Appeal, dated February 19, 2010, stopping proceedings in the case pending investigation and determination of the said petitions.

The CJN had promptly ordered the justices of the Court of Appeal sitting
as a panel on the Sokoto election petition appeal, to forthwith, stay further proceeding on the case.

His letter to them specifically read, “meanwhile, you are to ensure that further action on the appeals is put on hold pending the determination of the serious allegations leveled against you and the president of the Court of Appeal, please.”

The position of the CJN, in the case, culminated to exchange of hot letters between him and Justice Salami who questioned his authorities to meddle into governorship election matters.

The resultant acrimony between these two legal eggheads, informed the decision of the NJC to set up a committee with a view to looking into the two petitions as well as ascertaining the legal propriety of Justice Katsina-Alu’s directive to the Appeal Court justices.

In the report of the NJC panel, headed by Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, it noted that: “The committee finds that the Hon Chief Justice of Nigeria as the chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) has no power to interfere with any proceedings in any court, as was done in this case.”

Justice Salami had in his own affidavit before the present probe panel, claimed that the said NJC committee invited the two of them into the office of the CJN, where he said the findings of the Justice Babalakin’s panel was read to them, adding that the CJN had allegedly admitted the blame that was apportioned to him, to the hearing of everybody.

Salami stressed that inviting members of that committee, headed by Justice Babalakin, to testify before the NJC probe panel, would further establish who committed perjury between him and the CJN.

Consequently, he has formally applied for both subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum.
Whereas subpoena duces tecum is to compel the five retired justices to produce their report of March 8, 2010 as exhibits before the Justice Umaru Abdullahi panel, subpoena ad testificandum on the other hand is to compel the attendance of the retired jurists and other members of NJC who were privy to the meeting where the CJN allegedly admitted his guilt, to appear before the Justice Abdullah’s panel and testify.

It would also be recalled that both Governors Oni and Onyinola, who were members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Osun and Ekiti State chapters, had maintained that Justice Salami and the six other justices, engaged in unethical conversations with some chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, which they said resulted to the judgments that sacked them from their respective offices.

The six other justices that also participated in the 2007 election petition appeal panels that sacked the former governors from office, who the petitioners insisted were equally enmeshed in the alleged judicial malpractices were, Justices Clara Ogunbiyi, M. L. Garuba, Paul Galinje, C.C Nweze; Adamu Jauro and O. Ariwoola.

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