Justice Ayo Salami, last week Thursday got some reprieve when the National Judicial Council (NJC) asked that he be reinstated as President of the Court of Appeal, has vowed not to withdraw the case he filed against the council until he is returned to office.
Two legal practitioners; Kehinde Oluwole and Tunde Kolawole joined Nneota Egbe and Yomi Otaigbe to shed more light into the discussion at hand.
Salami was suspended by the NJC nine months ago for refusing to apologise to the council and former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, after an NJC panel said he breached the code of conduct by lying against the council. But the NJC rose from a meeting some days ago in Abuja with a resolution that he be reinstated.
Justice Salami, however, said Friday through his lawyer, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN), that the case he instituted against the NJC in the wake of his sack would remain until he is reinstated.
NOTE: NJC suspended Justice Salami on August 18, 2011. The sub-committee of the council headed by the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, in its report on the controversy between Salami and former CJN Katsina-Alu, recommended that Salami should tender a written apology to both Katsina-Alu and NJC.
The committee had found Salami in breach of Rule 1(1) of the code of conduct for judicial officers.
When it dawned on him that he was going to be suspended, Salami filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop the council from going ahead with the decision.
NOTE: In the suit, Salami prayed the court to set aside the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan from appointing an acting president for the Court of Appeal, since the President was aware that he was in court challenging the NJC’s decision upon which the President based his appointment of an acting president for the court.
NOTE: He also asked the court to set aside the decision of the NJC reached on 18th August, 2011, purporting to suspend him from office as the President of the Court of Appeal, recommending him to President Jonathan to be retired from service and also directing him to hand over to Hon. Justice Dalhatu Adamu.
Although the case was filed and served on the NJC, the council apparently ignored the court’s processes and went ahead to suspend him.
This prompted him to file another case, where he asked the court to restrain the Senate from acting on the recommendation of the NJC suspending him from office as a judicial officer.
NOTE: In the new suit in which the Senate President, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the National Assembly, the Attorney-General of the Federation and NJC were made parties, Salami is seeking an interlocutory injunction to stop the implementation of the NJC’s recommendation.
Delivering ruling in the application to transfer the case, Justice Okorowo noted that the parties were in agreement that the question on jurisdiction be submitted to the Court of Appeal for determination. Justice Okorowo said the issue of jurisdiction must be determined first and the Court of Appeal should determine whether it is the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court (NIC) that has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit. “The order seeking to stay proceeding pending the determination of the issue of jurisdiction is also granted.