?The Abuja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday described as laudable, the National Judicial Council’s recommendation to President Goodluck Jonathan to recall the suspended Justice Ayo Salami, President, Court of Appeal.
The chairman of Abuja NBA, Mr Afam Osigwe, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Salami was suspended by the?NJC on Aug. 18, 2011 following what it called “disregard'' of its directive to tender an apology to the former Chief?Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.
Salami was suspended because he refused to apologise for?publicly accusing Katsina-Alu of trying to influence the?appeal court judgment on the Sokoto governorship election
case.
Osigwe said that the step taken by the NJC on the matter would undoubtedly boost the image of the judiciary.
According to him, the recommendation of the council should be approved by Jonathan?to lay the controversy to rest.
“The judiciary has come under undue searchlight for some time now because of the suspension of the Court of Appeal President which many viewed as absurd.
“The courageous step taken by the NJC, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, has redefined the country’s jurisprudence to stand on the path of truth,’’ he said.
Osigwe, said that the NJC had powers under the law establishing it to either discipline or reward judges.
“It is the same NJC that recommended Justice Salami's suspension that is now reinstating him.
“May be they saw merit in his case and now recommended that he be reinstated.
Also speaking to NAN, Chief Solo Akuma (SAN), a former Attorney-General of Ebonyi, said that the NJC was created by virtue of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The council, he said, was vested with enormous powers and?functions.
Akuma said that the NJC under Section 21(g) had the power to appoint, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control?over members and staff of the council,?the Federal Judicial Service Commission, persons for appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, among others.
?“Those who suspended him in the first place are the same ones who are reinstating him.
?“The office of the President of the Court of Appeal has not been filled. Justice Dalhatu Adamu is there as the acting?President of the Court of Appeal.
“So, if President Jonathan agrees with the recommendation on Salami, then Justice Adamu will go back to being the deputy president,'' he said.
In the same vein, Mr Akpan Chris, an Abuja-based lawyer, said that Salami’s suspension was undue interplay of politics and judiciary, adding that “the legal system is still vulnerable to political manipulation’’.
He said that the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) must ensure that judicial officers were not unduly exposed to ridicule.
Mr Ogboji Onyilo, another lawyer, said that the recall of the suspended Court of Appeal President was a right step in the right direction, adding that Salami deserved to be treated better in view of his contribution to the country’s justice system.
He said the alleged infiltration of corrupt jurists into the judiciary could only be tackled when the system became more transparent.
He said that the ongoing judicial reform must consider the present modalities in the appointments of judges and elevation of lawyers as Senior Advocates with the view to adopting an acceptable yardstick. (NAN)