Dan baba

Perhaps, the case of Justice Ayo Salami and Justice Katsina-Alu remains one of the darkest controversies that almost tore the Nigerian Judiciary apart. It's an interesting, but slightly long, read. In 2010, Justice Ayo Salami was the President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, while Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu was the Chief Justice of Nigeria. At that time, governorship election petitions ended at the Court of Appeal, and it was the duty of the President of the Court of Appeal to constitute the panels that would hear election disputes across the country. By hierarchy, both Katsina-Alu and Ayo Salami occupied the highest administrative positions in their respective courts. But something happened that tore their relationship apart and triggered a major scandal in the Nigerian Judiciary. The crisis started when Justice Ayo Salami constituted an election petition panel to hear the case involving Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State, whose earlier election had been nullified by the courts before he contested another election. On February 4, 2010, the panel constituted by PCA Salami was preparing to deliver its judgment against Wamakko. Before that day, rumours were already circulating that the judgment would be unfavourable to the governor. And while those rumours were making the rounds, something extraordinary happened. Justice Katsina-Alu, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, issued an administrative directive seeking to stop the delivery of the Court of Appeal's judgment. What was his reason? Justice Katsina-Alu reportedly relied on a petition alleging that the judgment had leaked, arguing that his intervention was necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial process. Justice Ayo Salami was not happy with the intervention and rejected the request. But the matter did not end there. According to Justice Salami, the crisis went far beyond a leaked judgment. He alleged that Justice Katsina-Alu had earlier summoned him and requested that he direct the Sokoto appeal panel to dismiss the appeal filed by the opposition candidate, Muhammad Dingyadi, in favour of Governor Wamakko. Salami maintained that he refused because he could not dictate the outcome of a case to the judges handling it. Justice Salami's position generated a public uproar, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) moved to investigate the matter. When the NJC investigated, it found that Salami had failed to establish his allegation against Katsina-Alu and directed him to apologise to both the Chief Justice and the council. Salami refused, maintaining his position that he had done nothing wrong. The NJC subsequently suspended him on August 18, 2011, and recommended his compulsory retirement to President Goodluck Jonathan, who approved the action. Justice Dalhatu Adamu was appointed Acting President of the Court of Appeal. U.S. Department of State +1 But Justice Salami did not give up. He challenged the action in court, disputing the process that led to his suspension and proposed retirement. Then came another twist. In May 2012, following a review of the matter under a new judicial leadership, the NJC reversed its earlier position and recommended that President Jonathan reinstate Salami as President of the Court of Appeal. However, Jonathan did not reinstate him, citing the pending court proceeding. Justice Salami never returned to his position as President of the Court of Appeal before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Nigeria has always been a country where the more you look, the less you see. I am Ekene Aninze, Esq.