States should have their own Supreme Court ! – Salami

CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar and Salami
| credits: File copy

At the recent 10th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Public Lecture organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami (retd.), made far-reaching recommendations to reposition the Nigerian judiciary, ADE ADESOMOJU reports

 A former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, who  remained suspended from the bench until his retirement last year, spoke recently, making far reaching recommendations for the reform of the nation’s judiciary.

One of his recommendations was that each state of the federation should be allowed to establish its own Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Chairman, Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Alex Muokah, at a valedictory court session held for Justice Marcelleus Awokulehin at his retirement from the Federal High Court bench on January 16, 3014, described a judge’s retirement as “a happy release.”

“Yesterday (January 15, 2014) for instance, at the occasion of the NBA, Ikeja Branch 10th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Lectures, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, retired President of the Court of Appeal seized the opportunity offered by his recent retirement  from the bench to deliver a Chairman’s  address in which he aired his rather strong views about the judiciary and certain named individuals, and went on to make bold and far-reaching suggestions for the judicial reform.

“Needless to say, however, much he may have felt about those issues whilst he was serving, he could never have aired such views.”

Salami’s speech during the NBA event, which held a day before Awokulehin’s retirement from the bench, focused on the rot in the judiciary, the major indicator of which was corruption.

The retired judge, whose recommendation by the National Judicial Council to reinstate him was ignored by President Goodluck Jonathan for about two years, recounted his ordeal and the  alleged persecution he faced while his travails lasted.

He reiterated his innocence katsina-Alu, while he lamented the proliferation of “dishonourable people” in the Nigerian judiciary.

Such dishonourable persons, who he said were unfit to be judges, were behind his travails, adding that all the steps taken by them afterwards were meant to humiliate him.

Salami said, “I must say that as a matter of fact, part of my ‘sins’ is the fact that God helped me throughout my career to resist all temptations to be influenced  by anybody in dispensing justice. My conscience is intact and my relationship with God (to whom I am accountable) is sacred and also intact.

“I should like to let you know that in the course of my travails, the NJC set up the Justice Ibrahim Auta Committee  (Justice Auta is a completely junior judge or judicial officer to me) to make recommendation on the NJC  investigative panel (Justice Umaru Abdullahi’s panel).

“This was meant to humiliate me. But God turned the humiliation to vindication for me, in that the Autac committee adopted a laughable procedure by introducing a completely new dimension to the case without giving me any hearing at all.”

While he commended members of the Ikeja branch of the NBA, including its Chairman, Mr. Monday Ubani and a rights lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, among others for advocating his recall, he blamed the national leadership of the NBA for allowing evil to thrive in the nation’s judiciary.

Incompetence and intimidated judges

Justice Salami also spoke on the helplessness of some Nigerian judges to do justice in many matters filed before them due to their incompetence and pliable judiciary which he said made it easy for judges to intimidated by higher judicial personnel.

“The irony of the situation in the Nigerian judiciary is that these same men and some others like them still sit as members of the National Judicial Council, a body charged with the responsibility to appoint and discipline judicial officers.

“One wonders where lies the hope of the common man in getting justice with these crops of men  at the helm of affairs at the NJC. This is why, in spite of the disposition of the present Chief Justice of Nigeria, all her efforts to rid the  judiciary of corrupt elements are being frustrated.

“When the controversy surrounding my suspension was raging, a young member of the profession soliloquized that if Gani (of blessed memory whom we are celebrating today) 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.”

Lawyers and NBA’s shortcomings

Salami said lawyers could not be exonerated of the problems in the judiciary. He said there were many lawyers, who had the capacity to intimidate courts “and they do it with relish.”

“Permit me to state that whatever happens or goes wrong in the judicial system, lawyers (particularly some senior lawyers) are involved. There are some who have the capacity to influence and intimidate the courts and they do it with relish,” he said.

He blamed the NBA for its inability to implement the report of its independent investigation into  the Sokoto case from where the dispute between him and the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu,  which led to his suspension, arose.

The NJC had, in August 2011, suspended Salami for refusing to apologise to the council and Katsina-Alu.

The NJC suspended the retired judge based on the conclusion of a panel of the council that he lied against the then CJN. The allegation of lying against the then CJN leveled against Salami arose from the dispute between him and Katsina-Alu over the governorship election petition in Sokoto State. The election petition was between Maigari Dingyadi, and Governor Aliyu Wamakko, who was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Salami said that the NBA should have imposed sanction on erring senior lawyers for their roles in the Sokoto case if the association had had sufficient will and capacity.

He said “I wish the Nigerian Bar Association would have the will, ability and capacity to implement the recommendations of Okpoko Committee that carried out NBA’s independent investigation into the Sokoto case which led to my travails. Unfortunately, NBA which had a good report in its hands could not impose sanctions on members of the Bar that were indicted therein (probably because ‘prominent’ senior lawyers were involved).

“Again, we have to leave this to history, posterity and ultimately God. One thing I know for sure is that if Gani were alive and in charge, he would not have allowed the matter to be swept under the carpet. Sometimes (and when it matters) some members of the Bar representing NBA on the NJC hardly stand up for the truth not to talk of speaking the truth.”

Recommendations

While referring to the case which caused the dispute between him and Salami said the Supreme Court the provision of its rules to assume jurisdiction on the matter which it ought not to hear.

He said, “How does one explain the Supreme Court’s decision in Dingyadi v. Wamakko? In this case, the Supreme Court invoked the provision of its rule to override an express provision of the Constitution which forbids  Supreme Court from hearing appeal in election matters to dismiss an appeal that was not pending before it. I will not like to comment on this beyond stating that history and posterity will bring out the truth and eventually unravel what went wrong in the fullness of time.”

He therefore made the following recommendations, chief among which were that the CJN should cease to be the chairman of the NJC and each state should be allowed to have its own Court of Appeal and Supreme Court:

“The Chief Justice of Nigeria should cease to be the chairman of the National Judicial Council so that the occupants of that office would stop taking undue advantage of the powers  of the CJN as chairman of the council as enshrined  in the Constitution to abuse their office. For example, the Inspector-General of Police is not the chairman of the Police Service Commission.

“Each of the federating states should be allowed to have its own Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to better adjudge on the respective disputes and appeals on matters falling with their legislative competence. There is no gainsaying in the fact that a judge from the core South may not know how better to resolve disputes of the man from the core North and vice-versa. If this canot be financed by states, then the zones should create such for the states constituted in them. Constitutional issues and issues between states can then be left to the federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Supreme Court.

“Federal High Court, state High Courts and the National Industrial Court should be vested with the same jurisdiction to avoid cost of litigation and delay arising from contentious issue of jurisdiction.

“Members of the NJC should not accept executive appointments including briefs from the executive during their tenure.

“In no circumstance should justices appointed to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court on ground of Sharia or Customary Law be permitted to participate in Common Law as well as constitutional cases.”