By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA — An Abuja High Court at Bwari, yesterday, dismissed the suit filed by former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Segun Oni, seeking to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, to institute perjury case against the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, PCA, Justice Isa Ayo Salami.
Presiding Justice Peter Affen threw out the suit on the premise that the plaintiff failed to show the special interest he has in the matter, which supersedes that of any other Nigerian.
The court held that the suit was grossly incompetent, stressing that paying further attention to it would amount to wasting the judicial time of the court.
It would be recalled that the AGF and Salami had ignored the suit, a situation that resulted to only counsel of the plaintiff, Mr Segun Ilori, debating the propriety of the suit alone.
In an ex-parte application he filed on January 26, the former governor pleaded the court to mandate the AGF to institute criminal proceeding against Justice Salami "for giving false evidence contrary to Sections 156, 157 and 158 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory."
Oni maintained that "it is in the interest of justice, fair-play and the rule of law to prosecute the suspended PCA, Justice Salami, for giving false evidence as the prosecution borders on an issue of national interest, public concern, social justice and equality before the law."
He had earlier petitioned the National Judicial Council, NJC, alleging that the suspended PCA masterminded his sack from the Ekiti State Government House and prayed the court to, in the alternative, order the AGF to issue him a fiat to initiate perjury case against Justice Salami.
Oni, therefore, canvassed 26 grounds upon which he sought the order of mandamus, just as he not only tendered a three-paragraph statement of facts in support of his application, but equally deposed an affidavit.
The ex-governor attached four exhibits, which include Salami's affidavit in support of his Motion on Notice of February 7, 2011, affidavit in response to the allegation of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu dated March 31, 2011, report of the National Judicial Council (NJC) Panel of August 10, 2011 and a copy of his own letter of January 19, 2012 to the AGF entitled: Request for the prosecution of Hon Justice Isa Salami for perjury.
He averred that Salami deposed to facts in his affidavit of February 7, 2011 and March 31, 2011, about the existence of a state of affairs which were later shown not only to be false, but also to have been made knowing those facts to be false, with the aim of misleading conclusion in a judicial proceedings in contravention of S156, 157 and 158 of the Penal Code Laws of the Federal Capital Territory.
According to Oni, "On February 7, 2011, the Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami sued the then Chief Justice of the Federation, Hon. Justice Aloysius Iyorger Katsina-Alu vide an Originating Summons on the ground that the latter had orchestrated plans through the Federal Judicial Service Commission to forcefully promote him to the Supreme Court.
"In paragraphs 8-17 of the supporting Affidavit, forming part of the originating summons, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, stated chronologically, a sequence of events including the then Chief Justice of the Federation's attempt to allegedly influence the decision of the Sokoto Gubernatorial Election Petition Appeal Panel which he had constituted."
He maintained that pursuant to the hearing of the Justice Umaru Abdullai-led NJC Panel, Justice Salami deposed to a five-paragraph Affidavit on March 31, 2011.
He said: "Hon Justice Isa Salami stated in the said paragraph 4 (v) of the sworn affidavit that 'the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria actually instructed me to direct the panel of justices hearing the Sokoto state gubernatorial Appeal Panel to dismiss the Appeal which I told him I could not do.
"When Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher, the current Chief Justice of the Federation, was invited by the Abdullahi Panel of the NJC, he denied the assertions in Paragraph 4(v) of the Affidavit of March 31, 2011 being the only witness stating that while he was in the office of the then Chief Justice of the Federation on the said day, the Chief Justice of the Federation never asked Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami to compromise the Sokoto Gubernatorial Appeal Panel.
"After the hearing, the panel closed its proceeding, the NJC subsequently released its report of the panel and stated that the President of the Court of Appeal was not telling the truth when he accused the Chief Justice of the Federation of wanting to influence the judgement of the Court of Appeal.
"The panel in the said report stated its finding on page 96 as follows 'From all the circumstances there is available evidence that the CJN did not give instructions to the PCA to direct the panel to dismiss the appeal".... '' the Panel finds that the allegation that the CJN had taken over the running of the Court of Appeal in an unprecedented manner as unfounded'.
Oni told the court in his affidavit that the NJC had in suspending Justice Salami at the end of an emergency meeting it held on August 18, stated that "at the end of deliberations, the Council decided as follows: That the allegation made by the Hon. President, Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, that the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, instructed him to direct the Sokoto Gubernatorial Appeal to dismiss the appeal by the Democratic Peoples Party of Nigeria is not true."
Vanguard Nigeria