Nigeria: President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami re-instated

Justice Ayo Salami, President of the Court of Appeal

NIGERIA - The National Judicial Council has recalled the suspended President of the Appeal Court, Justice Ayo Salami.

Salami was recommended for reinstatement on Thursday at a decisive meeting of the judicial council attended by 18 members. The decision to formally recall Justice Salami was reached by a slim vote of 10 members voting in favour of his recall, while eight members voted against.

The decision of the council has been communicated to President Goodluck Jonathan who is expected to endorse it as a final step in reinstating Mr. Salami to office nearly a year after.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR
In July, 2011, case between Salami and Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), started when Salami alleged that Katsina-Alu interfered in the handling of the Sokoto State 2007 gubernatorial election court case. The election was said to have been won by Governor Magatakarda Wamakko of the PDP but questioned by Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). Salami had claimed that Katsina-Alu asked him to manipulate the course of justice in the Sokoto State governorship election appeal.

Thereafter, the NJC, headed by Katsina-Alu, recommended that Salami should be promoted to the Supreme Court. This meant that  Salami, would be demoted from chair of the Court of Appeal court to an ordinary seat in the Supreme court. Salami immediately took out an injuction to stop the 'promotion'.
Then, Katsina-Alu's deputy, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, set up a five-member investigative panel to probe the allegations. 

The investigative panel which was headed by retired Justice Umaru Abdullahi, cleared the CJN of allegations of interference in the Sokoto election case, and indicted Salami for 'lying on oath'. The NJC set up another panel, this one headed by the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to review the Abdullahi-led panel report. The Auta panel also found Salami guilty of misconduct and of perjury. It stated that the allegations Salami raised against Katsina-Alu were false, and ordered Salami to give a written apology to Katsina-Alu and the NJC for 'false complaints' within seven days.

Investigations, however, showed that the panel cleared Salami and other justices of the Court of Appeal on the allegations that the members of the governorship appeal panels in Osun and Ekiti States were financially induced to give judgment in favour of ACN. The panel concluded that there was no evidence of financial inducement in the outcome of the two appeals.

On August 18, 2011, the National Judicial Council (NJC), suspended Salami for refusing to apologise to the council and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. Furthermore, the council further advised President Goodluck Jonathan to retire Salami from the bench.
 

Justice Ayo Isa Salami, a gradute of law from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; was called to bar in 1968. He became an Appeal Court justice in December 2009 when Goodluck Jonathan appointed him President of the Court of Appeal. Salami who hails from Ganmo, Kwara State then became a court of appeal judge.

News from ThisDay.com and AllAfrica.com