Lawyers Condemn Salami’s Promotion

Legal practitioners have been reacting to the recent promotion of the President of the Court of  Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami to the Supreme Court.  The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius  Katsina-Alu had promoted Justice Salami to the Supreme Court.

Barrister Supo Osewa reacting, quoted Section 202 of the Constitution which describes the appointment  of judicial officers must accept appointment and swear to oath of office.  If he fails to accept, he  cannot be forced.  That is the position of the law. Justice Salami is still a serving judge.  Meanwhile, his appointment at this point in time is unnecessary. Therefore, I support his decision.

The editor of Nigeria Weekly Law Publication, Barrister Oluwole Kehinde in his reaction described the  whole scenario as confusing because “ordinarily there is nothing wrong if the president of the Court  of Appeal is promoted to the Supreme Court. The underlining insinuation that preceded the appointment  that the judge was being considered for promotion to the Supreme Court was hasty. He has not received  a letter. He could have waited for formal correspondence from the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN. No  matter how strong his source of information may be, the judiciary is a conservative institution.

“Speculative conduct is unbecoming of a judge, it is like reacting to a query that has not been  issued. I believe the appointment is political.”

Former Secretary General of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Lagos branch, Mr. Ike Ukor said, “by  ranking, the president of the Court of Appeal is of the same rank with the Justice of the Supreme  Court. A  judge of the Supreme Court could be appointed to head the Court of Appeal, just as in the  case of Supreme Court Justices like Ibekwe and Nasir who from Supreme Court became the president of  Court of Appeal. But there was no case precedent where the president of Court of Appeal was moved to  the Supreme Court.

“Now, the question is this, the president of Court of Appeal is of the same ranking with the judge of  the Supreme Court. Justices of the Supreme Court who are already there are his juniors. The recent  court injunction is in order. The judge came from North Central. The zone has three Justices of the  Supreme Court – Galadima, Fabiyi and the CJN himself.

“Meanwhile, since Oguntade is from the southwest, he has not been replaced in the Supreme Court  Southeast has only one serving justice, Chukwu-Elele.”

Barrister Abidemi Oladigbolu said the issue of the promotion borderes on quota system. “Therefore,  there is no vacancy in his zone. Why did they promote him while other zones’ quota have not been  filled. He earns the same salary as that of the Supreme Court. They are promoting him because they  have their own motives. The promotion is not a welcome development. It is a bad precedent,” he said.

—Akin Kuponiyi