Salami, a victim of bad politics —ACN

THE Action Congress of Nigeria has described the suspension of the President of Appeal Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, nine months ago, as unnecessary.

The ACN said the manner in which Salami was suspended from his position indicated that he was a subject of victimisation by the Peoples Democratic Party-led government.

National Treasurer of the ACN, Chief Kenneth Kobani, said President Goodluck Jonathan shouldn’t have approved the suspension of the Appeal Court President.

Kobani, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview on Friday, said government must rise above party affiliations to do what was right in the eyes of the constitution.

Describing the return of Salami to his position as a welcome development, the ACN chieftain said the speed at which his suspension was approved suggested the presence of a sinister motive to get him out of the way.

“While the move to return Justice Ayo Salami as the President of the Appeal Court is a welcome development, the man should not have been suspended in the first place.

“The speed with which the president approved his suspension suggests that there must have been a sinister motive to get him out of the way so he would not preside over appeals from the election tribunals.

“It is not true that Salami worked in favour of the ACN. When the evidences are so compelling that some  candidates’ mandates were stolen, Salami had no choice, but to do the right thing. The truth of the matter is that Salami was being victimised by the PDP-led government,” he said.

However, following the recommendation of a three-member panel set up by the NJC, led by a justice of the Supreme Court, Mariam Aloma-Muhktar, the NJC formally reinstated Salami on Thursday.

Similarly, the National Vice President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Taiwo Otitolaye; a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Alli, and a former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Salman Jawondo has said the recommendation to reinstate Salami signalled a bright future for Nigeria.

Otitolaye described it as, “triumph of truth over evil.”

Ali also said the NJC should be commended for the action and that it was an indication of the determination of the judiciary’s leadership to restore the, “crumbling and wobbling image” of the judiciary.

In the same vein, Jawondo said, “The development should kick start the restoration of a fearless, impartial and corruption free judiciary which is bastion for corruption free nation.  The Nigerian judiciary needs more of the likes of Justice Salami.”

The National Judicial Council had on August 18, 2011, suspended Salami for refusing to apologise to the council and the immediate past chief justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, after the Justice Ibrahim Auta-led panel of the council found that he had allegedly lied against the CJN.

The council further recommended to the President that Salami should be retired from the Bench.

Jonathan approved Salami’s suspension on August 20, 2011.