Salami: I won't be swayed by media campaign -Judge

JUSTICE DonatusOkorowa, the trialjudge in the suit brought by Justice Isa Ayo Salami, challenging his suspension by the National Judicial Council (NJC) as president of the Court of Appeal, on Monday, vowed not to succumb to massive media campaign in the handling of the litigation.Okorowa was reacting to complaints by counsel for the NJC, Chief Mike Ozekhome, who raised the issue of lawyers demonstrating in support of Salami in Lagos and Kwara states, despite the pendency of the matter in court.Ozekhome noted that the motive of the public show of sympathy for Salami was to incite the public against the respondents, while charging the trial judge to look at the case on its merit and not succumb to media blackmail, which the demonstrations were primed to achieve.Reassuring parties in the matter, Okorowa said the matter before the court would be determined according to the dictates of the law and not media campaign, while cautioning that the media should not be used to destroy the judiciary.Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, on Monday, asked the trial court to join a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, as a defendant in the Salami suit, due to his membership of the council, which is constitutionally headed by the CJN.The council had filed an objection to Olujinmi's participation in the suit, given that he is a principal partner of Olujinmi and Akeredolu and Co.During the proceedings on Monday, the joinder application by Musdapher was kicked against by Olujinmi, who argued that the preliminary objection brought by the respondents in the suit should be heard first.After the address on the precedence issue, Justice Okorowa fixed October 18 for ruling on which of the issues would take precedence over the other.
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