A group of lawyers has called for the immediate resignation of both the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Aloysius Katsina-Alu and President of the Court of Appeal, Ayo Salami to allow the judicial panel of inquiry into cases of allegations against them to do its work.
The convener of the group, Malachy Ugwummadu, at a protest held in front of the High Court of Justice, Ikeja said the continuous stay of the two judges in the position of leadership is an opportunity for them to scuttle justice and cover up the dirty details behind proofs of the allegations.
"Our claims and predictions is in full realisation and recognition of the composition of the judiciary. As a self regulatory body, the Nigerian judiciary is structured and configured in such a manner that the identified principal actors are both in the leadership of virtually all the relevant regulatory institutions and organs of the judiciary as chairman and member respectively. By virtue of Section 12 (a)(b)and section 20(a)(c) 0f Part A of the Third schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the CJN is the chairman of both Federal Judicial Service commission and National Judicial Council, while the PCA is also a high ranking member of both bodies just as they occupy similar strategic position in the legal practitioners' Privileges committee as well as the National Judicial Institute.
"These are the institutions that have the statutory responsibility to self regulate the affairs of the judiciary particularly regarding discipline and control. It is therefore evident that no meaningful investigation, probe or inquiry can go on with their continued stay as the CJN and PCA respectively," he said.
One of the Lawyers, Ubani Monday said: "We the concerned members of this profession now call on those involved to step aside from their respective offices forthwith to allow for a full scale independent judicial panel of inquiry comprising men and women of proven integrity and character to be headed by a retired jurist in the calibre of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa or Justice Kayode Eso." He said.
The group however commended the intervention of the Nigeria Bar Association for resolving to also investigate the allegations. The crisis started after Mr Katsina-Alu in his capacity as the Chief Justice of the Federation promoted Mr Salami from his present position of the President of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
In Mr Salami's rejection letter dated February 4, 2011, Mr Salami claimed that he was moved to the Supreme Court with an aim to replace him with Mr Katsina-Alu's stooge. He stated that, "I prefer to follow in the wake of my worthy predecessors who in spite of their experiences retired as Presidents of the Court of Appeal with their honour and reputation unsullied. The present unholy move to push me out of the Appeal Court for whatever reason has no precedence in our legal history." Mr. Salami said.
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