Olushola Omogbehin
A former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami (retd), has said that former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, should not have been allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party.
He disclosed this on Tuesday, in Ilorin, during a courtesy visit and award presentation by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism at his residence.
According to him, “There are a few bad eggs amongst some judges. Strictly speaking, I will not say bad eggs. Some of them have a problem with learning. They don’t have a good background to be judges. Imagine appointing a higher registrar as a judge. He has no experience. In the past, this would not have happened.
“Personally, they are inadequate. This might be responsible for their wrong judgments. At times, if you see the judgments of some of them, even the Supreme Court judgments, you will be astounded and wonder at what is happening.
“For instance, Peter Obi ought not be allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election. In the sense that by the time he lost the PDP primary, LP had submitted its list of members to the Independent National Electoral Commission. And the Constitution says there cannot be an independent candidacy.
“How did he become a candidate of LP if he does not belong to LP? The same thing happened to the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, who had now defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). His name is not in the NNPP’s register, but they issued him a membership card, and the register is supposed to be the mother of the card.
“But the Supreme Court Countenanced it, even though the tribunal and Appeal Court frowned at it. That is the problem of competence. People get to the Supreme Court not because they are good but because there is a vacancy in their zone.
“I am a practical example. Some of them who came ten years after I had got to the Court of Appeal, got recommended to the Supreme Court by me because my zone did not have a vacancy. That is the tragedy we have found ourselves in. We hope that with time, everything will be corrected.”
Speaking on the award given to him by Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.
“I am very happy to receive the award. I hope and pray that your organisation will flourish. I am very sure that many people will, from time to time, be eager to be honoured by you. There is hardly any judge who will not appreciate this type of award coming to him. Even if he is a bad judge, not to talk of others who are very good and dedicated,” he said.
He hinted that Prof Wole Soyinka’s audacity and principles influenced his position on Nigeria’s affairs.
Salami also revealed that the late nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, influenced his decision to study law. “In fact, Chief Awolowo was the one who influenced my decision to read law during his treasonable felony trial.
“Chief Awolowo decided to take up his own personal defence. So I thought if I go into politics and I find myself in the same hot pot, I should be able to defend myself,” he said.
