YORUBA GROUP SLAMS ACN OVER ATTACK ON JONATHAN, CJN

A Yoruba Socio-Cultural and Political Organisation, The Omoluabi Group

has described the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) comment on the over

alleged move to elevate the Appeal Court President, Justice Isa Ayo

Salami to the Supreme Court as a confirmation that “the party, its

sole-proprietor, Mr. Bola Tinubu and Justice Salami are partners in

the subversion of peoples mandate through the judiciary.”

Omoluabi Group, in a statement issued by its National Publicity

Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said it was disheartening that ACN

Spokesperson, Mr. Lai Mohammed, who is a lawyer by profession, does

not see anything wrong in Justice Salami's unethical behaviour of

discussing matters of the bench on the pages of newspapers, which has

brought the judiciary into disrepute.
He described the comment as an attempt to blackmail President Goodluck

Jonathan, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Iyorger

Katsina-Alu and National Judicial Council (NJC), saying “propaganda

won't work this.”
Adeyeye, who urged the CJN and NJC not to be deterred by the ACN

propaganda said; “From the content and intention of the statement made

by the ACN, it is obvious that the party was out to defend Salami,

having benefitted immensely from his questionable judicial

pronouncements in the past.
“Or is it not funny that ACN has taken it upon itself to be the

defender of a senior member of the Nigeria bench who said with his own

mouth that he does not trust some of his colleagues in the Court of

Appeal to put them on the Appeal Elections tribunals?

“If after Justice Salami had confessed that there were conflicting

judgments from the Appeal Court which he head, the ACN and its allies

are still putting up this spirited defence for him (Salami),

definitely, there must be more to it than meet the eyes.

“With this kind of coordinated defence coming from the ACN and its

allies, one can now understand how the party was able to know that the

Appeal Court judgment on the Ekiti Governorship election was going to

be in favour of the party and that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

was planning to arrest the judgment.
“Justice Salami was the chairman of the panel and it won't be out of

place if it is now concluded that he leaked the judgment to the ACN

days before it was delivered. Hence, it now payback time for the ACN!

“However, let Lai Mohammed and his team of propagandists in the ACN

know that this time around, propaganda won't work because no

individual will be allowed to hold the nation down just to satisfy his

corrupt ego and interests.”
While berating Justice Salami for bringing the judiciary into

disrepute, Adeyeye said; “Against all ethics, norms and rules of the

Bench, Justice Salami granted an interview that was published in

Thisday newspaper of January 25, 2011 where he said…Then he raised the

issue of using a few Justices to determine appeals. Well, when it

comes to that you must use people you trust, you can't just empanel

anybody.''
“That Justice Salami could choose to use the pages of newspapers as

platforms for discussing matters of the bench shows that the man has

lost respect for the judiciary and has opted for the protection of his

corrupt judgments.
“This is inimical to the high esteem in which the bench is held by

members of the public and Justice Salami must be called tom order

before he destroy the bench.”