BY DAPO AKINREFON
THE Niger Delta Nationalities Forum has said that President Goodluck Jonathan should not be held responsible for the crisis rocking the judiciary.

Reacting to a call by some groups who faulted the President’s action for removal of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami; the group said the president acted based on the recommendations of the National Judicial Council, NJC.

In a telephone chat with SaturdayVanguard, chairman of the forum, Mr. Manager Seigha said “we are not in anyway saying that whether the way Justice Salami was removed was right or wrong, what we are saying is that the judiciary is an arm of government, it has taken its own decision.

There is a constituted authority and they have made their own recommendations and the president has signed based on the recommendations of the NJC.” Speaking further, Seigha absolved the president of any wrong doing by acting on the recommendations of the NJC.

He said: “Even if the president thinks otherwise the way Salami was removed was wrong, he has no right to use his discretion. He is to do it based on the recommendations of the NJC. If by tomorrow the NJC decides to make another recommendationand forwards it to the president, it is whatever that is brought before him that he will act upon.

What our forum is saying is that no one should hold the president responsible for the problem of the judiciary. If they are to apportion any blame, it should be to the judiciary and not the president.”

In addition, he said, “so many people are now beginning to blame the president that he should not have signed the recommendation of the NJC and that he should have waited for a court order. All these are just aimed at distracting the president and also weigh him down. Again, we believe that President Jonathan should learn from Obasanjo’s administration. If you compare it with the Obasanjo’s administration, that was what they did to him (Obasanjo); the same people will tell him (Jonathan) it is wrong, but after leaving office, the same set of people will turn back and say he (Jonathan) did not listen to advice. He should learn from this and do what has been recommended to him.”