The National Judicial Council on Wednesday said copies of court summons served on it by lawyers representing the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, on Monday, were unsigned and undated, hence its inability to accept them.
In a statement from the NJC Director of Administration and Head of Secretariat, Mr. E. I. Odukwu, the Council said the court process was eventually accepted on Tuesday, when the lawyers returned with signed and dated copies.
The NJC denied reports that it refused to accept the court summons.
The statement reads in part, “The National Judicial Council, the apex Body for the Nation’s Judiciary is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
“It is mandatory for the National Judicial Council to obey and comply with all Court Orders and Processes. Therefore, the Secretariat of the Council has no right whatsoever to refuse or evade service of any Court Process.
“However, it must be stressed that in every democratic setting, such as ours, the Rule of law must be strictly adhered to.
“In the matter under reference, a Writ of Summons purportedly issued by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division was brought to the Council by two Lawyers namely; Messrs Oluwaseun Ben and Joshua U. Oghene on 15th August, 2011 from Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, SAN Chambers.
“The Writ was taken to the Office of the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary of the Council by the two Lawyers.
“After perusing through the Writ, the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary discovered that it was undated and unsigned.
“Consequently, the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary sought for clearance on the matter from the Secretary of the Council. The Secretary of the Council directed the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary to meet the undersigned to reconfirm if the Writ was actually undated and unsigned.
“After meticulously going through the purported Writ, I confirmed that it was unsigned and undated.”
Meanwhile, a group, Access to Justice, has written the National Judicial Council to formally request, under the Freedom of Information Act, all the reports relating to its investigations into the face-off between the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.
The group made the request in a letter dated August 15 addressed to the Chairman, and Secretary of the NJC.
In the letter by its Director, Mr. Joseph Otteh, the group listed the documents it is applying for to include, the Report of the Justice Umaru Abdullahi Panel established by the NJC following its 5th Emergency Meeting on March 9 that investigated the allegations made against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami and other justices of the Court of Appeal.
Based on my findings, in the presence of the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary, I told one of the Lawyers, Oluwaseun Ben Esq. that the Writ was actually undated and unsigned and could not be accepted.
“In the presence of the Assistant Chief Confidential Secretary, the Lawyer admitted that the non-signing and dating of the Writ was a mistake from the Court Registry of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division.”
By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
VERY INTRESTING AND EDUCATIVE
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