Justice Adamu Takes Charge at Appeal Court

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, yesterday inaugurated Justice Dalhatu Adamu as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal (PCA) following the controversial suspension of Justice Ayo Salami by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

President Goodluck Jonathan had on Sunday approved the appointment of Adamu pending the resolution of issues relating to the Salami saga. Adamu was sworn in at exactly 8:40am at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Katsina-Alu advised Adamu to be forthright and focused as no one was a repository of wisdom, asking him to always listen to wise counsel and follow the dictates of his conscience and the provisions of the constitution.

Condemnation continued to trail the suspension of Salami and the decision of Jonathan to appoint an acting president for the court.
Among the groups that condemned the action are Access to Justice (AJ) and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which has already instituted a legal action.

SERAP filed the suit before a Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja over the suspension of Salami as the PCA and the swearing-in of a new justice to replace him by the Federal Government.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also reacted angrily, accusing President Jonathan of violating his oath of office.
The party said in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the president's action, “which is clearly subjudice”, amounted to a repudiation of the oath he took to protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and uphold the rule of law.

It said the action also confirmed the rumour making the rounds that the president might have been secretly pushing for the removal of Justice Salami through some hawks in the NJC over fears that the petition by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari - which is being handled by the Court of Appeal - might go against Jonathan.

ACN said apparently the last straw for President Jonathan was the strong stance of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), which asked him to ignore NJC's recommendation on the retirement of Justice Salami, adding: ''Indications are that the unequivocal action of the NBA jolted the president to act quickly to effect Justice Salami's removal, in line with the prepared script.''

The party said Jonathan exhibited “executive recklessness” when he acted on an issue that was pending before the court and also relied on a section of the constitution that deals with appointment, rather than removal, to get rid of Justice Salami.

ACN said: ''Section 238 which the President relied on to remove Justice Salami and appoint an Acting President of the Court of Appeal deals with the appointment of President and Justices of the Court of Appeal if the office is vacant.

''Section 292 deals with the removal of top judicial officers, including the President of the Court of Appeal. In accordance with this section, the President can only remove any of the listed officers, acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate. In other words, it is not even the President, but the Senate, that can initiate the process upon the recommendation of the NJC.

''By rushing to remove Justice Salami on the strength of Section 238, the President has committed the same faux pas as the NJC clique and violated the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He has filled a post in which no vacancy exists, and allowed himself to be guided by political expediency, rather than the provisions of the Constitution.”

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives yesterday declared the suspension as a violation of the constitution and threatened that lawmakers elected on the platform of opposition political parties would boycott sittings of the parliament unless the decision was reversed.

The caucus said President Jonathan's action in appointing a new President of the Court of Appeal was “incurably defective”.
In a terse statement released yesterday, the caucus said while it had maintained "a stoic silence" over the war of attrition between the NJC and the CJN on one hand and Justice Salami on the other, the parliament could no longer fold its arms on the matter.

Minority Leader of the House, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN), who signed the statement alongside four other principal officers of the House, alleged that recent developments had shown that the House could not and should no longer fold its arms and allow the nation's judiciary to be put in further disrepute with its attendant potential for anarchy.

"Should Mr. President fail to withdraw or rescind his action, we in the opposition will totally boycott the sittings of the House. The consequence of this is the likelihood that the House will not be able to conduct any business as provided in Section 54(3) of the constitution and any such business conducted in violation of that provision will be declared null and void. We will also be urging all lawyers to boycott the sittings of the Appeal Court. This has the potential of a government shutdown. This must be avoided.

"It is time to invoke Section 88 of the constitution and the spirit guiding that document. Indeed the provisions of the constitution for checks and balances and power of oversight as contained in Section 88 and Section 4(2) have been triggered by the unfortunate suspension of Justice Salami by the NJC and his consequent removal from office by Mr. President for the following reasons.

“In the first place, it was against practice, procedure and legal tradition for the NJC to have purported to have suspended the President of the Court of Appeal after it had reluctantly accepted and acknowledged service of court process on the matter. It was even more egregious for Mr. President to have acted on an illegality even when he or his Attorney General knew or had constructive knowledge of the pending court action. Such is an affront to the rule of law and a brazen attempt to present the court with a fait accompli and destroy the rest," Gbajabiamila said.

And in a statement signed by Director, AJ, Joseph Otteh, he noted that at the time President Jonathan appointed Adamu, Salami had filed a lawsuit challenging his purported suspension by the NJC as well as another suit against the president seeking an injunction restraining the president from giving effect to the letter emanating from the NJC.

President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, stated yesterday in Port Harcourt that the crisis in the judiciary had tainted the respect that ordinary Nigerians had for it.

Daudu took on President Jonathan, alleging that that he had abused the law and quashed due process by his appointment of Justice Adamu. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar called for strict observance of the constitution in the resolution of the crisis of confidence, saying the judiciary as the last hope of the common man should not be jeopardised.

“It is imperative that we apply to the letter what the constitution provides for in respect of issues like this,” he said, adding that “it is in the best interest of our nascent democracy that I wish to appeal to the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Presidency to tread with caution in resolving the issue at stake as doing otherwise may endanger our fragile democracy,” he said.
Former General Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Ayo Opadokun, took a swipe at the NJC, describing the recommendation of Salami, for retirement as one wicked action that could not stand the test of time.

He also deplored the “swift” appointment of Justice Adamu as the Acting PCA by Jonathan, saying it was absurd that the president opted to “give efficacy to the ridiculous pronouncement” of the council.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) said the indefinite suspension of Salami “is a threat to the existence of Nigeria”, adding that the decision of President Jonathan was too hasty and taken bad in bad faith. Addressing activists yesterday, Fashola said the judiciary was “perhaps the most critical institution that sustains democracy. The vehicle for conflict resolution and if it is now an object of conflict haywire manipulation, such is an ominous sign for our country”.

Members of the state House of Assembly also condemned Jonathan for “hurriedly” approving the suspension of Salami, describing the action as an “abuse of rule of law”. Deputy Speaker of the House, Taiwo Kolawole, who raised the issue under Matters of Urgent Public Importance during plenary, noted that the judiciary had always been seen as the holiest amongst other institutions in the country.

According to him, “Salami is a man that has done a lot of good things, especially concerning the election petitions tribunal. But the NJC decided to suspend him just because he refused to do what is not legal. This is condemnable and must be condemned by all.”

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned Jonathan over his acceptance of the recommendations of the NJC. The union said the action of President Jonathan in appointing an acting PCA when Salami was challenging his suspension in court was unfortunate and could undermine the country’s legal system.