Presidency, NJC silent on Salami’s reinstatement

Confusion persisted on Monday over the decision of the National Judicial Council to reinstate the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, more than a week after President Goodluck Jonathan was reportedly asked to approve his return to office.

This came as the Action Congress of Nigeria, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, berated President Goodluck Jonathan for delaying Salami’s reinstatement.

The party said the President was sending wrong signals on his administration’s commitment to the rule of law.

The NJC had recommended Salami’s recall on Thursday after suspending him nine months ago.

However, the decision, which was hailed as a move would halt the crisis in the judiciary, has only created further confusion.

The confusion largely concerns the fate of the recommendation letter sent to the President, asking him to approve Salami’s reinstatement.

A highly-placed official in the NJC said the letter of reinstatement was sent to the President on Monday, May 11.

The official told one of our correspondents that the letter got to the President’s table on Monday, May 14.

However, the Presidency has continued to claim that it has not received the letter.

The NJC did not issue any statement to announce its decision to reinstate Salami and its spokesman, Mr. Soji Oye, has not spoken officially on the development.

According counsel for Salami, Chief Akin Olujimi, the suspended PCA has yet to receive any letter from the NJC concerning the council’s decision to reinstate his client.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, deepened the crisis last Wednesday when he denied knowledge of Salami’s reinstatement by the NJC.

The crisis was also deepened by two law suits that seek to stop Jonathan from approving Salami’s reinstatement.

In the separate suits, the plaintiffs, Noah Ajare and Wilfred Okoli, both legal practitioners, asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop Jonathan and the NJC from going ahead to reinstate Salami pending the determination of several suits on the matter.

This include a suit in which Salami is challenging his suspension by the NJC and another suit in which the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun and Ekiti states asked the Abuja FHC to restrain the NJC from reinstating the suspended PCA.

Efforts by one of our correspondents to reach the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on Monday were not successful.

Calls made to his mobile telephone lines were not answered and he did not reply a text message sent to him.

The presidential aide also did not respond to an enquiry on the issue sent to his electronic mail box at press time.

Berating Jonathan, the ACN said every single day the reinstatement of Salami was delayed gives the impression that the President had more than a vested interest in the of the suspension of PCA president.

It said, “We call on the President to approve the recommendation of the NJC and reinstate Justice Salami today, because that is the right thing to do, irrespective of the scheming of the hawks in his party and whatever self-serving advice he may be receiving from some aides.

“The jet speed with which the President accepted the recommendation of the same NJC to suspend Justice Salami has placed a huge moral burden on him to stop pandering to the naysayers in his party and approve the NJC’s recommendation reversing its earlier decision.

“The courageous act of the NJC is a reflection of the determination of the judiciary to put an end to a crisis that has dented its image in the eyes of the world.”