By Suleiman Anyalewechi
A former President of the Court of Appeal has dismissed some Judges in the Judiciary, including some Justices of the Supreme Court of incompetence. He blamed such incompetence for why Peter Obi and the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, were allowed to contest for election to offices when, according to him, they were not qualified to contest.
Salami, who spoke when he was honored at his Ilorin residence by the Professor Wole Soyinka Investgative Journalism Centre, attributed the problem of incompetence within the Judiciary to what he described as a flawed appointment and promotion system. The system, he pointed out, allows merit to be sacrificed on the altar of zonal and state balance.
He expressed serious concern that in some cases, people who are not qualified to be in the system are appointed, even ahead of their seniors and better qualified Judges owing to the issue of federal character.
Salami: “People get to the Supreme court,
sometimes, not because they are good, but because there are vacancies from their Zones, and/or States .
“They even, in some cases, rise above their seniors who they met at Court of Appeal to go to the Supreme Court just because there are vacancies from the Regions or State they come from”.
He referenced his own personal case where some Judges he had recommended for promotion were eventually ahead of him, owing to lack of vacancies in his Zone .
He also acknowledged the existence of some bad eggs within the Judiciary, noting that they are the ones who find themselves in the system without adequate background .
“There are a few bad eggs amongst the Judges. Strictly speaking, I will not say they are bad eggs. But the problem is that some of the Judges lack proper background.
“Imagine appointing a higher Registrar as a Judge . He/she has no experience. In the past, this would not have happened” the retired jury averred.
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