Guardian
16 Feb 2011
THE feud over the proposed appointment of President of Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami to the Supreme Court is not just unprecedented in the country’s judicial history, it is capable of destroying the otherwise revered institution. By publicising their disagreements, the two foremost judicial personnel, namely the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and Justice Ayo Salami, may have unwittingly raised questions about their moral authority to continue to preside over the nation’s highest appellate courts.
This view is informed by the weight of allegations emanating from the controversy, as well as the potential not only to disrupt the general elections scheduled for April this year, but also to undermine the stability of the entire country. This without prejudice to the pending suits instituted by Justice Salami, and by former President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, on the matter. The suits, along with various sponsored media advertisements concerning the feud, only serve to debase an institution that is ordinarily, regarded as the last hope for the average Nigerian, although both suits now seem to have been overtaken by the decision of the National Judicial Council to stop Salami’s nomination for the apex Bench.
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