He said, “Both of them, I talked to them individually, and I abused them for what they even did. I did! I was not happy at all.”
The Chief Justice, who spoke to a group of reporters at his Abuja residence on Monday evening, was asked how he felt when this country’s three top judges including him testified under oath before the National Judicial Council [NJC] and gave conflicting accounts of an event.
He said, “I felt very very bad. Number one, the three of us were all classmates. I was in the Court of Appeal’s Benin Division when Ayo Salami was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal and we were there together for about two and a half years. We are very close family friends.
“When the issue arose, I was not number two, I was number three. Justice Niki Tobi was number two. I was not a member of the NJC. I just happened to be in the office of the Chief Justice one time when Justice Ayo Salami came over the Sokoto election petition issue.
“What I was told at that time was that the judgment had leaked. As usual I won’t keep quiet, so I said if the judgment has leaked, then go and have another panel with credibility to look into it. Quite honestly I left them at that stage.”
The Chief Justice added, “Eventually, in his own affidavit Justice Ayo Salami mentioned that I was there when Katsina-Alu asked him to enter judgment in favour of one of the parties. At the same time, Justice Katsina-Alu also said I was his number two man at that time… He said one other thing at that time.
“In my evidence, I spoke the truth as I know it. It might be possible I wasn’t around when they had their meeting and discussed whatever it was they discussed. I did say that I wasn’t there when Katsina-Alu asked Isa Ayo Salami to ask his judges to…How can you even do that kind of thing anyway? What guts have we got to ask a judge, at the level that we are in, to enter judgment [laughter]...
“Both of them, I talked to them individually, and I abused them for what they even did. I did! I was not happy at all. They were both classmates of mine and they both worked under me at one time or the other.”
The Salami vs Katsina-Alu affair
Salami was suspended as president of the Court of Appeal on August 18 last year in the wake of his tussle with then-CJN Katsina-Alu over the Sokoto governorship election case.
The National Judicial Council suspended him because he refused to apologise for publicly accusing Katsina-Alu of trying to influence the appeal court judgement on the Sokoto election case, an allegation the council said could not be substantiated.
Salami came public with the allegation after the CJN nominated him to the Supreme Court, which he said was an attempt to ease him out from the Court of Appeal.
When he got wind of his nomination to the Supreme Court, he swore to court affidavit saying that Katsina-Alu wanted to edge him out because he refused to accede to the then CJN’s demands that he disband the Sokoto tribunal on the grounds that it was about to remove Governor Aliyu Wamakko.
The NJC then set up a committee headed by Justice Babalakin which exonerated Salami.
But Katsina-Alu set up another NJC investigative panel headed by Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of the Court of Appeal, and then another committee headed by the Justice Ibrahim Auta which recommended that Salami should apologise to Katsina-Alu within seven days because he had no evidence to support his allegations.
Salami refused to apologise, and instead headed to court asking it to set aside all decisions by the NJC under Katsina-Alu in the matter.
It was while the case was going on that his suspension was announced.
Apart from the NJC panels, the Nigerian Bar Association also set up a committee which conducted an investigation into the matter and exonerated Salami.
After the retirement of Katsina-Alu, the new Chief Justice of Nigeria Dahiru Musdapher set up a high-powered Judiciary reform committee headed by fromer CJN Justice Muhammad Uwais. This committee recommended Salami’s reinstatement.
Another sub-committee was subsequently set up by the NJC, headed by Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, which also recommended the recall of Salami. On May 10, the NJC adopted this report.
But President Jonathan failed to execute the recommedation because of what Attorney General Mohammed Adoke said was a court injunction against doing so.
Salami has until October 14 next year to retire, when he would have attained the age of 70
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