Salami The ousted Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni has lost in his bid to seek prosecution of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami.
An Abuja High Court on Wednesday dismissed his suit seeking an order of Mandamus to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to begin criminal prosecution of Justice Salami.
Justice Peter Affen sitting in Bwari said the suit failed in its entirety as it was not well founded.
The judge said the applicant failed to express sufficient interest which will warrant the court to grant the order.
He said: “I cannot see where the applicant has expressed any interest recognisable in law in relation to the Sokoto Governorship Election Petition Appeal of which he is seeking an order of mandamus.
“Regrettably, the Applicant did not exhibit the conclusion reached by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and this Court will not permeate on the content of a document not before it.
The court said it found nothing in the exhibit relied upon by the applicant to reach a conclusion that Justice Salami gave false evidence on oath for the purpose of exercising discretion in the favour of Oni.
“The originating summons is not well founded; it fails in its entirety”, the Court ruled.
Oni had applied for an Order of Mandamus directing the AGF to institute Criminal Proceedings against Justice Salami “for giving false evidence contrary to Sections 156, 157 and 158 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of The Federal Capital Territory.”
Alternatively, he asked for an order of the court directing the AGF to issue “a fiat to the Applicant to institute criminal proceedings against Justice Salami.”
He stated 26 grounds upon which the Order of Mandamus was being sought, and supported the application with a three-paragraph statement of facts as well as a three-paragraph verifying affidavit he personally deposed to.
In support of the application, Oni attached four Exhibits, which include Salami’s affidavit in support of his Motion on Notice of February 7, last year, affidavit in response to the allegation of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu dated March 31, 2011, a report of the National Judicial Council (NJC) Panel of August 10, 2011 and a copy of his (Oni) letter of January 19, to the AGF entitled: “Request for the prosecution of Hon Justice Isa Salami for perjury.
The Applicant averred that: “On February 7, 2011, the Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami sued the then Chief Justice of the Federation, Hon. Justice Aloysius Iyorger Katsina-Alu vide an originating summons on the ground that the latter had orchestrated plans through the Federal Judicial Service Commission to forcefully promote him to the Supreme Court.
“In paragraphs 8-17 of the supporting Affidavit, forming part of the originating summons, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, stated chronologically, a sequence of events including the then Chief Justice of the Federation’s attempt to allegedly influence the decision of the Sokoto Gubernatorial Election Petition Appeal Panel which he had constituted.
“Hon Justice Isa Salami stated in the said paragraph 4 (v) of the sworn affidavit that ‘the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria actually instructed me to direct the panel of justices hearing the Sokoto State gubernatorial appeal Panel to dismiss the Appeal which I told him I could not do.’
“When Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher, the current Chief Justice of the Federation, was invited by the Abdullahi Panel of the NJC, he denied the assertions in Paragraph 4(v) of the Affidavit of March 31, 2011 being the only witness stating that while he was in the office of the then Chief Justice of the Federation on the said day, the Chief Justice of the Federation never asked Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami to compromise the Sokoto Gubernatorial Appeal Panel.
“After the hearing, the panel closed its proceeding, the NJC subsequently released its report of the panel and stated that the President of the Court of Appeal was not telling the truth when he accused the Chief Justice of the Federation of wanting to influence the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
“The panel in the said report stated its finding on page 96 as follows ‘From all the circumstances there is available evidence that the CJN did not give instructions to the PCA to direct the panel to dismiss the appeal’’…. ‘’ the Panel finds that the allegation that the CJN had taken over the running of the Court of Appeal in an unprecedented manner as unfounded’.
Oni claimed that “At the end of deliberations, the Council decided as follows: That the allegation made by the Hon. President, Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, that the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, instructed him to direct the Sokoto Gubernatorial Appeal to dismiss the appeal by the Democratic Peoples Party of Nigeria is NOT TRUE.”
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