EKITI GROUP URGES THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF APPEAL COURT PHONE SCANDAL
With an alarm that Nigeria may be purchased on the shelf by corrupt politicians soon, a Non Governmental Organisation in Ekiti State, the Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has called for immediate and thorough investigation of the alleged telephone conversation between the Appeal Court President, Justice Isa Ayo Salami and chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the party's lawyers while the Osun and Ekiti States Governorship Appeal cases were still on.
Reacting to newspaper publication on the call logs submitted to the National Judicial Council (NJC) by former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni and the Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), EJG in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Dr. Tunji Oluwasanmi described the Justice Salami-led Appeal Court as a threat to democracy in the country.
“From what we read in the Nigerian Compass of today, Salami, Tinubu and others have questions to answer on the Ekiti and Osun governorship appeal cases.
“What on earth could members of the bench be discussing with parties to election cases they are superintending over?
“Or are they going to say that those numbers, one of which we called and Justice Salami responded no longer belong to them?
“Honestly, this is more than a Pandora box and the earlier Salami and his trusted allies in the Appeal Court explain their roles in the controversial Ekiti and Osun State appeal cases, the better for our judiciary,” the group said.
Describing Salami's unholy relationship with the ACN sole-proprietor, Mr. Bola Tinubu as an open secret, EJG said; “Even a deaf and dumb knows that Salami and Tinubu are partners in judicial election rigging.
“We saw this coming months ago and raised the alarm over the well thought out scheme to use the appeal court as avenue for coronating Tinubu's agents as governors in the Southwest. But then, even the PDP did not take us serious. We were accused of just crying wolf where there was none.
“Now it is open to all. Even with the way the ACN and its sympathisers rose in defence of Justice Salami, sponsoring media attacks on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and NJC in the last few weeks, discerning minds need not be in doubt that Salami and Tinubu have something to hide.
“Therefore, this time around, what Nigerians require from Justice Salami and his men, whose names were mentioned in the phone scandal is a defence of their role. Sentiments, media propaganda and blackmail won't work.”