₦airaland Forum

Several sources within the National Judicial Council (NJC) have disclosed to SaharaReporters the intrigues and behind-the-scene maneuvers that nearly sabotaged the council’s vote earlier today to reinstate the suspended President of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami. In separate interviews, these sources detailed the drama and tension orchestrated by a cabal that vehemently opposed Mr. Salami’s return to his job.

According to these sources who were part of the closed door meeting, the opposition to Justice Salami’s returned was spearheaded by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Ibrahim Auta.

Mr. Auta is the notorious judge who was used by former military dictator, Sani Abacha, to hand down a verdict that led to the execution of environmental rights activist and leader of the Movement for the Sovereignty of the Ogoni People, Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight other Ogoni activists.


[b]SaharaReporters learnt that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, also joined Justice Auta in opposing Justice Salami’s reinstatement. [/b]Incidentally, Mr. Daudu and Justice Auta worked in tandem in the hanging trial of Mr. Saro-Wiwa, with the NBA boss serving as the government’s lead prosecutor during the trial of Saro-Wiwa and his compatriots before Auta’s kangaroo tribunal.


Peter Umeadi, a member of the NJC, emerged as another strong campaigner against the recall of Justice Salami. Curiously, Mr. Umeadi’s late uncle, Philip Umeadi, also served on the Auta panel that sentenced Mr. Saro-Wiwa to death in a highly controversial and widely condemned 1995 trial in Port Harcourt.


Our sources revealed that 20 members of the NJC attended today’s meeting which was chaired by the outgoing Chief Justice of the Federation, Dahiru Musdapher.

The NJC had earlier constituted a committee led by Justice Alooma Muktar to help resolve the impasse created by the suspension of Justice Salami. The Alooma panel was mandated to liaise with all interested parties in the suspension saga crisis and submit a recommendation to the NJC for consideration.

The committee, which also had Olisa Agbakoba, a former President of the Civil Liberty Organization, as a member, reportedly met with the suspended judge and proposed that he accept to retire from the bench as a condition for his reinstatement. “I know that the Justice Alooma committee told Justice Salami that they would recommend his recall, but they wanted him to agree to retire as soon as he was reinstated,” said one of our sources. The source added that Justice Salami flatly rejected the condition, asserting that he was willing to continue his lawsuit against his illegal removal. The source said that Justice Alooma, Justice Pius Aderemi (rtd), Rotimi Akeredolu and Mr. Agbakoba supported his position that he would not retire.

One source told SaharaReporters that some members of the reconciliation committee persuaded Justice Alooma to have their group recommend an unconditional recall of Justice Salami. The source revealed that Mr. Agbakoba was then assigned the task of writing the panel’s report.

“That report was presented to the NJC at today’s meeting despite Justice Auta’s fierce reservation and opposition,” said one source.

Justice Auta had earlier written a report that accused Justice Salami of abusing his office as the President of the Court of Appeal.

The pattern of the 10-8 voting that clinched Justice Salami’s reinstatement revealed the nature of entrenched interests within and outside the judiciary that took a position on the matter.

SaharaReporters gathered that Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of the Court of Appeal, aligned with Justice Auta in voting against Salami’s reinstatement. Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, the former chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), abstained from voting. The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Inumidun Akande, who was reportedly embedded with the anti-Salami crew, absented herself from the meeting.

Others who opposed the move to reinstate Justice Salami included Justice Moses A.D. Bello, the president of the Customary Court of Appeal in Abuja, and the Chief Judge of Benue State, a crony of former Chief Justice of Nigeria Aloysius Katsina-Alu.

Our sources revealed that the pro-Salami members were led by former Supreme Court Justice Pius Aderemi, Olisa Agbakoba and included a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Rotimi Akeredolu, Justice Alooma and Chief Justice Dahiru Mustapha of the Supreme Court. Other supporters included National Industrial Court President, Babatunde Adejumo, and Justice Aloma Muktar. Onueze Chukwujinka Okocha, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, also voted for Justice Salami’s reinstatement.

Pavore9:
“Another major point why the problem with the judiciary will remain unresolved or even compounded for a long time is that Nigerians do not naturally want the truth to be told. Whoever dares to tell the truth is marked for destruction....You members of the Bar often tell sordid stories or tales of certain high ranking serving or retired judicial officers who act as ‘arrangees’ or couriers of bribe. That is, such are engaged at a fee to reach out to judges to influence or ‘purchase’ justice in certain sensitive cases.”......Food for thought.

michoim:
Justice Ayo Salami is one of the most respectable, fearless and sincere justice in this country. God bless you sir.

amagunnerfan:
But isn't it ironic that the same man was probed by the NJC and no wrongdoing was found in him and was asked to be reinstated but le shoeless refused to reinstate him? Or shall we omit that part as it is against you bigotry and propaganda?

durangokid:
. My brother let me tell you because of the sensitivity of that case that time because it was established that he connived with Tinubu to adjudicate on those election cases against PDP, the NJC was careful not to make the findings known in order not to bring up a constitutional matter in those states because that was what the PDP was waiting for a pronouncement to go back to those state of Edo, ondo ekiti and osun. Tactically the NJC refused to make their findings public only to Ayo Salami to apologize to Katsina Alo to die down the case and to divert attention because it was obvious then that Salami was trying to blackmail Katsina and to sink with him incase the NJC nail him with the evidence of MTN and his romance with Tinubu

id911:
Na wao...see who is talking. Justice Salami in saner climes, you will be in jail

bamidelee:
I wonder what century you are leaving in maybe 11th century
ipob tout

amagunnerfan:
Hahaha. The NJC didn't release the findings to the public but they released it to you because you are?

Mr. Salami said that the efforts of the current Chief Justice of Nigeria, Maryam Mukhtar, to rid the judiciary of corrupt elements are being frustrated by the crop of people calling the shots at the NJC.
“When the controversy surrounding my suspension was raging, a young member of the profession soliloquized that if Gani (Fawehinmi) were alive, he would have gone to court.

“I agree, but to which court would he have gone? An intimidated and frightened court? All it requires is a call to the head of the court and it is done,” he added.

QuotaSystem:
Well said Salami.

Who takes wailers seriously anyway?

amagunnerfan:
But isn't it ironic that the same man was probed by the NJC and no wrongdoing was found in him and was asked to be reinstated but le shoeless refused to reinstate him? Or shall we omit that part as it is against you bigotry and propaganda?

id911:
Na wao...see who is talking. Justice Salami in saner climes, you will be in jail

amagunnerfan:
Hahaha. The NJC didn't release the findings to the public but they released it to you because you are?

GenbIoodykiller:
[s][/s]
whats this vagabond saying?

Toeyoursea:
Baba mi. I hope you are doing better with your health now. I am still waiting for your thread on blogging. I am so ready. Please don't forget your boys o. God bless.

durangokid:
You can continue to make jest of yourself because you don't read, NJC investigated the mtn call log allegations after listening to it, it was confirmed that there was Contact between Ayo Salami, Tinubu, Fayemi, and one guy who was the in-between in that deal, so they recommend Salami to apologize to Katsina since he has few months to go not to indict him at that stage some judges who are annoyed because of his romance with politicians and those who felt he has been making them redundant in bench by being selective in his appointment in election tribunal cases insisted that he must be sacked petitioned to presidency of the inability of the NJC to sanction Salami with the evidence against him, in other not to allow crises Jonathan in his benevolent nature agreed to suspend Salami in other cool down the tension between PDP who wanted NJC to use the report to review the cases on those four states.

GenbIoodykiller:
[s][/s]

ain't in search of likes fool

amagunnerfan:
Take the comment to the webmaster section so me and yourself don't get banned.

I am likely to start it today. It will be in a form of challenge. $50 a day challenge. We will hope to reach the target in 3 months. That means at the end of the 3 months, we should be making $50 consistently.

id911:
Na wao...see who is talking. Justice Salami in saner climes, you will be in jail

durangokid:
. please justice Ayo Salami, don't just remind us of your case because you are one of the problems we have un this country, you allowed yourself to be used, that was the beginning of gang up against PDP then which some people pointed out that early which Jonathan refused act on which eventually lead to him downfall, APC cannot make such mistake at now they are working seriously hard to consolidate their victory but tine will tell