By Ochereome Nnanna
REVERED retired Justice of the Supreme Court, His Lordship Anthony Aniagolu used to have just one piece of advice at every forum when suggesting the way forward for Nigeria: “Reform the Police and the Judiciary and Nigeria will be great”.

The eloquent jurist who retired from the Supreme Court in 1979 is still enjoying a graceful old age in his Enugu GRA abode. But about 15 years ago when he was stronger and often featured on the circuit as a distinguished speaker and guest, he always began or ended with this exhortation.

Very few of us took seriously the notion that the rot that has permeated the Nigerian society is now also in the Judiciary, especially the Inner Temple, until the days of General Olusegun Obasanjo as President of Nigeria. Many high court judges were openly “bought and sold” in “the black market”, with some of them such as Justice Wilson Egbo-Egbo of the Abuja High Court and Justice Stanley Nnaji of the Enugu High Court severely sanctioned by the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC).

While the eras of CJN Alpha Belgore and CJN Idris Kutigi heralded the dawn of some sanity due to their no-nonsense attitude to corruption and impunity, many more cases of cash-and-carry justice continued.

Just after the current political office holders were sworn-in in 2007 and cases flooded the Electoral Tribunals, there were many newspaper reports that a retired CJN was involved in influence peddling to pervert the course of justice, but the matter was cleverly played down, perhaps to save the Bench from further embarrassment. At a point, a doyen of the Nigerian Bench, retired Justice Kayode Eso, could not hold it any longer, as he openly campaigned against alleged serving corrupt judges.

The on-going spat between the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, is yet another evidence that all is not well with our Judiciary. The whistle was recently blown by Salami himself over moves by the CJN to “promote” him to the Supreme Court.

Even though Katsina-Alu says he wants to “strengthen” the apex court by posting Salami there, other views have it that he wants to bring in “his own man” as President of the COA. Salami does not want to go to the Supreme Court. In the first place, he said the manner of his appointment was lousy and did not follow due process. Secondly, he does not consider his posting to the highest court as a “promotion”, since, as President of the COA, he is the CEO.

A big fish in a small river is more prestigious than a whale in the ocean. Thirdly, he would be going to the Supreme Court to queue up behind many of its members who are his juniors.

And fourthly, he simply does not want to go, as none of his predecessors was ever compelled to “upgrade”. Justice Mamman Nasir, for instance, remained as the President of the COA for over 20 years and retired from that position without being forced to go to the Supreme Court. Salami’s sentiments are very understandable. The Court of Appeal is very powerful under our democracy. All election petition matters, except that of the presidential contest, terminate there. Anybody who loses at this Court can only appeal to God.

Its jurists sit on the final appeals of governors, members of the House of Reps and senators. In the past four years in particular, we have seen many governors unseated and new ones installed by Appeal Court judges. In view of the allegations of large-scale corruption involved, anyone who is President of the COA stands a chance of being one of the most powerful and wealthiest public officers if he decides to be crooked. It is conceivable that a CJN who wishes to peddle political (and even financial) influence would want to put “his man” there, especially if the person currently occupying the post is not “on the same page” with him.

I have no conclusive evidence that this is what has happened between Katsina-Alu and Salami. However, since this matter blew into the open, resulting in Justice Salami refusing the “promotion” in the public domain in a manner that suggests his readiness to engage the CJN in a dirty public brawl if possible, I hereby call on the two of them to throw in the towel or be sent home. Even if CJN Katsina-Alu employed intrigue to get Justice Salami out of the “juicy” post to bring in his own man, Salami has equally damaged both himself and the institution of President of the COA by his apparent readiness to fight dirty.

Apart from this, the two men are already dividing the political class, with many opposition parties, particularly the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) taking sides with Salami, urging him not to go to the apex court.

The ACN is seen in some quarters to have “benefited” immensely from many verdicts reached by the Court of Appeal, especially in Ekiti, Osun and Delta states. With Justice Salami having been the Presiding Justice of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal until his appointment on November 30, 2010, the ACN’s eagerness to jump to his side of the story has not helped the unhealthy politicised coloration of his power struggle with the CJN.

On the other hand, not a few people have expressed the opinion that the Supreme Court has become a bastion of hope for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where an incumbent president could never lose the petition on a presidential election, no matter how flawed. If Justice Katsina-Alu succeeds in posting “his own man” to replace Justice Salami, the “opposition” parties may feel that the door into the temple of justice has been shut in their faces.

In a no-win situation like this, only one solution will do.
They should quit.