Date Published: 02/07/11

Salami and Supreme Court: Bribery allegation trail Chief Justice... Tinubu and AC budgets N150m to stop his removal, Group alleges
…More Appeal Court Justices penciled down for removal

Justice Aloysious Kastina-Alu, CJN

Justice Ayo Salami

The forced ‘promotion’ of the President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, to the Supreme Court, has thrown up more dust that could further rubbish the reputation of the judiciary.

The allegations include huge bribes received by the Chief Justice of the Federation(CJN), Aloysius Katsina Alu from powerful forces within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and that Leader of the Action Congress, Bola Tinubu, and some Governors have budgeted N150 million to subvert moves to remove Salami through media campaigns, no love lost between Katsina-Alu and Salami since Law school, and ‘arrest’ of the Appeal Court ruling of the Sokoto state Governorship election masterminded by Katsian –Alu in favor of the PDP.

Salami had last Friday, in letter to the CJN, rejected offer of a seat at the apex court. He queried the hush-hush manner the CJN arranged his removal, which he (Salami) thought was a rumor.

Trouble started for Salami when he told a national daily recently that he did not trust several of the Appeal Court Justices, explaining why he used about a quarter to hear election appeals.

This came on the heels by the PDP led by Senator Iyiola Omisore which alleged that the AC bought the victories at the Appeal Court.

“I regret to say that I am not taken in. I am contented with being the president of the Court of Appeal. Indeed, it is common knowledge that I had even in more suspicious moment declined for good reason to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Nothing has changed since then. I prefer to remain in the Court of Appeal to continue to give service to the nation to the best of my ability,” Salami stated.

The Justice said he would prefer to complete his career in the bench in his present status as did his predecessors and cautioned against creation of bad precedence.

“I prefer to follow in the wake of my worthy predecessors who in spite of their experiences retired as president of the Court of Appeal with their honor and reputation unsullied. The present unholy move to push me out of the Court of Appeal for whatever reason has no precedence in our legal history. I do not therefore think that it will be fair for the Chief Justice of Nigeria to seek to create a dangerous precedent which may give rise to chains reaction”

Curiously, against the standard practice, Salami did not apply for the elevation, he was not consulted, there is also no vacancy for the North Central Zone at the Supreme Court.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that Katsina-Alu who said he was elevating Salami for his astuteness, is in the process on convincing President Goodluck Jonathan to increase the number of Justices at the apex court to 21 to accommodate Salami, and has already penciled down a stooge who will be next Appeal Court President in preparation for the anticipated controversies that would trail the next elections.

It was also learnt that most of those used by Salami to hear election petition appeals may also face the hammer soon, as the National Judicial council (NJC), and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) where the CJN calls the shots, have already approved the plot.

According to our findings, justices, Zainab Bulkachuwa and Clara Ogunbiyi may be on their way out. It was however not clear as to how they would be sanctioned by Katsina-Alu

Pointblanknews.com learnt that the PDP had been uncomfortable with the former President of the Appeal Court, Justice Umaru Abdulahi. Abdulahi’s panel had sacked Ondo’s Olusegun agagu and Osaheimen Osunbor of Edo.

But when he left, Salami who had in 2008 rejected an elevation to the Supreme Court did not show any sign that he would be a thorn in the flesh of the ruling party.

It was also learnt that Katsina-Alu had been in the bad books of Salami when the CJN masterminded the victory of Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamako last year at Supreme Court. The Appeal Court had annulled Wamako’s election because , according to Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, both him and his running mate were not qualified ab initio, to run under the PDP, because Wamako was still with the All Nigeria People Party(ANPP), while his running mate, Multar Shagari , filled nomination 13 days after the polls closed. A re-run was ordered that would have excluded Wamako.

Before the Appeal Court could deliver judgement, Counsel to Wamako, Wole olanipekun (SAN), asked the apex court to stop the appellate court’s verdict, and it did. Paving the way for Wamako to emerge at the re-run.

Sources hinted that hundreds of millions was budgeted by the PDP and Wamako for that project, and that the master stroke by Katsina-Alu set both men on war path.

A group tagged Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN), in a statement by its chairman, Chima Ubeku alleged that Tinubu in concert with some AC Governors have laid out a budget for the Samai project.

According to the group “To scuttle any move towards his removal, Tinubu, whose party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had benefitted immensely from Salami’s judicial abracadabra had a meeting with his think-tank two Sundays ago where it was agreed that ‘Salami’s job must be saved at all cost’ or alternatively; the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu must be presented in bad light.

“It was further agreed at the meeting that even if Justice Salami must exit from the bench, which is what he (Salami) will do eventually, the CJN must be ‘ridiculed substantially’ and this informed the leakage Salami’s letter to the CJN to the media.

“A sum of N150 million was agreed upon as budget for the ‘media onslaught’ to be unleashed on the National Judicial Council (NJC), the CJN and some leaders of the NBA so as to discredit any move to elevate Justice Salami to the Supreme Court.Governors of Ekiti, Osun and Edo States were mandated to contribute the fund with Osun State paying the highest sum of N70 million, followed by Ekiti N50 million and Edo N30 million,… “It was an aftermath of the meeting that Justice Salami, against all ethics norms and rules of the Bench granted an interview that was published in Thisday newspaper of January 25, 2011 where he tried to defend why only few justices sat on the Appeal election tribunals out of over 60 Appeal Court Justices.”