‘Reject this Poisoned Chalice’, Lagos ACN Urges Justice Salami.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has condemned the corrupt attempt to ease off the President of the Appeal Court, Justice Ayo Salami from his office and 'promote' him to the Supreme Court. The party said that the unprecedented move, which is being worked out by the PDP in readiness for the 2011 election should warn Nigerians that the PDP will stop at nothing to steal yet another general election.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party says it is not surprised by the present move to remove Justice Salami after the PDP felt that the few states recovered from its soiled hands since Justice Salami came in as Appeal Court judgment were traceable to the reputed judge. It warns that manipulating the judiciary to rhyme with the inordinate ambitions and desire of the PDP would be a damming verdict Jonathan will live with for the rest of his life, as it urges Justice Ayo Salami to stand firm in rejecting the poisoned chalice that is being offered him as an elevation.
“We have noted the discomfort some recent decisions of the Appeal Court, especially the tribunals have inflicted on members of the PDP who deigned the various mandates they stole from the people in April 2007 as sacrosanct. We have noted particularly the widely applauded decisions on the lingering cases in Ekiti and Osun State, which were resolved under the presidency of Justice Salami, to the satisfaction of Nigerians and the applause of all and sundry. Being losers in these well received judgments, we have noted that the PDP had embarked on a large scale dirty mission to rubbish Justice Salami and the entire judiciary, in its believe that once it steals a mandate, it should remain in its custody for ever. We equally note the courageous and brilliant decision the Court of Appeal gave in the Sokoto governorship case, which was strangely 'arrested' and by the Supreme Court under the headship of Justice Katsina-Alu who is spearheading the present effort to muscle the Appeal Court for PDP's anticipated bazaar in the April election.
“Given the vituperations of some members of the PDP, especially in the South West in recent times, we have no doubt that Justice Salami is being traded in a high profile game to compromise the judiciary and by making way for one of the many hustlers in the judiciary who oversaw the many judicial abracadabra that ensured the PDP retained most of the mandates it impudently stole in a horrendous manner in April 2007. We are convinced that what the Chief Justice of Nigeria is doing by this strange elevation is to pave way for one of the hatchet jobs to supervise the impending electoral blitzkrieg the PDP hopes to unleash in April as it is obvious that they have found it difficult dealing with the integrity of Justice Salami.
“Lagos ACN is pleasantly surprised that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is behind this present show of shame is allowing himself to be used to ridicule the judiciary and weaken it for the manipulation of the PDP in the coming polls. We are surprised that the judiciary should be dealt in such a way as to make it permanently malleable to electoral robbers and riggers who should be on the wrong sides of the law for their nefarious acts against the state. We wonder why the CJN should feel so obliged to dance the PDP dance of shame by working to ease off an unscrupulous judge for a pawn the PDP hopes to use to rubber stamp yet another illicit electoral harvest.
“We wonder why the Chief Justice of Nigeria should be a tool in the hands of immoral and desperate politicians in the PDP who seek the easy way out instead of engaging in the rules of the game in their inordinate quest for power. We are shocked that this type of aberration that has no precedence in the history of the country is happening under President Jonathan, who is alleged to have given his approval to this filthy maneuvering g. this has gone a long way in justifying our position that nothing can thrive under a culture of corruption which the PDP has entrenched so deeply in the last twelve years and Nigerians must rise up to show this shameless party the way out.
“We want to alert Nigerians to be on their guard as the April election fast approaches. We want to know that the PDP and its members are the same shameless cabal who will do anything to steal the mandates of the people for the sole purpose of self enrichment. We want to warn Nigerians to be eternally vigilant until the PDP is shoved out and Nigeria freed from their vice grips/ we call on Nigerians to reject this reprehensible manipulation of the judiciary for political purpose and call the PDP and its agents, both in the judiciary and elsewhere to order. We want Nigerians to imbibe the lessons of what is happening in North Africa at present and brace up for serious tasks ahead should the PDP go on manipulating the process for selfish advantage. We urge Justice Salami to stand firm in rejecting this poisoned chalice and we want him to know that Nigerians are solidly behind him.”