Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysious Katsina Alu
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has advised the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Kastina-Alu, to immediately resign from office or be forced out.
The union said this would pave way for a thorough investigation into allegations of possible abuse of office levelled against him by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami.
ASUU National President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, made the appeal in an interview in Abuja on Monday. He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to advise the CJN to resign or initiate the process to ease him out of office.
He said if the President failed to do so, he should be prepared for mass action by ASUU and civil society groups until the CJN vacated office. Awuzie noted that before now, prominent legal practitioners had warned that the judicial system had been compromised hence the need to sanitise it.
“What we are saying is that you know before now, some eminent jurists had said that the judiciary was corrupt, that something was wrong and it needed to be sanitised.
“They said it needed cleansing but we took it lightly. But the recent revelation or allegation by the President of the Appeal Court, Justice Isa Salami, that the Chief Justice prevailed on him to compromise the Sokoto governorship election was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“For that, the Academic Staff Union of Universities calls on the Chief Justice that while the allegation is pending, he should resign immediately as the Chief Justice of this country and then take necessary measures (to clear his name) if he feels he is innocent,” he said.
Awuzie said the mere mention of the allegation should have compelled Katsina-Alu to resign, “because that temple (the Supreme Court) if it is desecrated, then its implication for our democracy, the ordinary man and the judiciary itself is that it has been compromised and jeopardised.”
Awuzie said the issue had gone beyond the intervention of the National Judicial Council, the Nigeria Bar Association or any other body in the judiciary as the Supreme Court represents the last hope of the common man.
Awuzie said, “So what we are saying and I want to state that the National Judicial Council cannot hoodwink us or the Nigerian people by just telling us that the two of them should sheath their swords and that the President of the Appeal Court should withdraw the case in court.
“They cannot tell us that they have appointed three new Supreme Court justices; that is begging the question! It is leaving the substance and pursuing shadow.
“The substance is, there is an allegation hanging which the man (Salami) has made, which has not been denied. We should have sorted it out first before talking about appointing more people to the Supreme Court because it could also mean that we are appointing and sending more people who will now get desecrated by the same influence.”
Source:Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment