Salami: ACN asks N/Assembly to intervene

[DT]

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urge the National Assembly to rise above partisan politics and intervene decisively by compelling President Goodluck Jonathan to uphold the recommendations of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and reinstate Justice Ayo Salami,the suspended President of the Court of Appeal forthwith.  

National publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said yesterday in a statement that it would be in the interest of justice and rule of law for the federal lawmakers to act on Salami's matter, who he said has spent a year on suspension.  

He said that by continuing to disregard the recommendation of the NJC to reinstate Justice Salami, President Jonathan is sending a bad signal to the entire world that the rule of law has been supplanted by the rule of the 'jungle' in Nigeria and it is clear that such a country can never be an investor's destination and has also contributed in no small measure to Nigeria being classed among the most corrupt nations on earth.

While urging the National Assembly to act in the interest of democracy and separation of power, Mohammed said, "President Goodluck Jonathan's handling of Justice Salami's issue has destroyed the principle of separation of powers as enshrined in our Constitution, reduced the National Judicial Council to an appendage of the executive arm of government and made an imperial President of Goodluck Jonathan in clear violation of the Constitution."

He also quoted Prof. Simeon Johnson co -author of 13 Bankers as saying that, "Countries rise when they put in place pro-growth political institutions and they fail, often spectacularly, when such institutions ossify or fail to adapt. Powerful people always and everywhere seek to grab complete control over government, undermining broader social progress for their own greed. Keep those people in check with effective democracy or watch your nation fail."

Daily Trust