Salami Was Unjustly Treated, Say Uwais, Tinubu, Tinubu added that Salami ran into trouble because he refused to pervert the course of justice by delivering judgments against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that enabled the people of Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Osun States to reclaim the mandate they freely gave out to winners of the 2007 governorship election in the four states. Tinubu said: “Whenever the history of the Nigerian judiciary is told or written, the name of Justice Ayo Salami, former President of the Appeal Court, will occupy a place of supreme honour and respect. Many have said he is the finest jurist of this generation. They may well be right. Justice Salami represented the judiciary a true democracy needs. We are yet to achieve this judiciary simply because those in power do not want it. They do not want judges who are objective arbiters of the law. “They want jurists who cheer for them not jurists who cherish the law. They want judges who believe power and might are the law not judges who believe in the power and might of the law. “For being forthright and objective, Salami was taken from his deserved position on the bench by the ruling party. An innocent man was made to suffer, pilloried for the sin of being good and forthright. Those who forced him into retirement saw him as an obstacle because he did not play favourites when it came to the law; he did not play at all. He held the law in great esteem and protected it as one should protect the cornerstone of a just society. “Salamis account is the story of Nigeria. Nigeria stands in the cross winds of history. Unless we find more men with the gravity and sobriety of Justice Salami in the judiciary, we shall be swept in the wrong direction by the terrible gales of unbridled ambition and mean power. Justice Salami will remain the thorn in the flesh and the hammer in the minds of those who seek to clip justice to gain undue political power and advantage. Yet nothing they do can eclipse his courageous contribution to democracy and to the restoration of hope in our judiciary. “Someday, Nigeria shall erect a monument in his name. But the best monument to give this man is a living one. Let us continue to demand electoral reform. Let us demand judicial independence so that other jurists can act in the spirit of this man we today honour. “If we do this, Nigeria would have executed the proper turn to its better future. And whenever the story of the judiciary of this nation is told, the name Ayo Salami will find powerful and true mention” he added.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 20:12:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015