Former chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) Idris Kutigi yesterday opened up on the protracted crisis of confidence between former CJN Aloysius Katsina-Alu and suspended president of the? Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Salami.
In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, Justice Kutigi stated that the development was unprecedented in the history of the country’s judiciary since independence in 1960.
He said: “It has never happened before. I am sad about the issue and everybody is sad because it is a strange development in the legal profession. When I was the CJN and presiding? over the NJC, such a thing never happened .The NJC should resolve the issues.”
According to the ex-CJN, such a feud never occurred when he was heading the National Judicial Council (NJC), adding that there was a cordial relationship between him and the then PCA, Justice Umaru Abdullahi. ?
But he is hopeful that the matter will be resolved. ?
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“The council is still resolving it. I am sure the council and other stakeholders are there trying to resolve it. NJC is still there as a body although the lawyers (the Nigerian Bar Association,NBA) say they have withdrawn for three months. The council must negotiate and get the lawyers back because unless the lawyers are in the NJC, the NJC is incomplete,” said Kutigi.
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On his relationship with Justice Abdullahi, he said that the ex-PCA? was? his classmate just as Katsina-Alu and Salami were classmates at the? Law School? in 1968. He said: “I understand they were classmates just as the situation between me and Justice Abdullahi during my tenure as the CJN. In fact, we began in Zaria together. I just finished before him. Justice Abdullahi and I? were classmates. We were together.
“We were recruited on the same day to the legal course in Zaria. The following year, we went to England together but I finished before him.? So,? I was his senior in the service.”
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When asked how the people’s confidence could be restored in view of the protracted crisis, Kutigi replied that judges should do the right thing and abide by? their oaths:? “Judges should follow the proper path of justice. They should do justice to everyone. That is all. Their oath of office is there.? If a judge keeps to his oath of office, there will be no problem.” ?
Asked the way forward, the former CJN said, “The action of judges is what gives confidence to Nigerians. It depends on what the judges are doing to them. People must have confidence in the judiciary. But I can tell people to have confidence when judges? are not doing the right thing.”
On allegations from whistleblower website WikiLeaks? that he rejected bribes from former President Olusegun Obasanjo and that tribunal judges? were being bribed, Kutigi said, “I take WikiLeaks with a pinch of salt. Anybody that comes to me with WikiLeaks has to have his own source because Wikileaks is not a source of anything. You cannot investigate how they get their information.”
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Kutigi also shed light on the controversy surrounding? the inauguration of Katsina-Alu as his successor, saying that the issue was pure mischief on the grounds that people were more interested in who was exercising presidential powers.
He further said that the issue became more contentious as people knew that the late former President Umaru? Yar’ Adua was not in the country due to ill-health.
Commenting on a constitutional crisis that nearly happened when Yar’Adua was indisposed and unable to swear in Katsina-Alu, Kutigi said: “What I am saying is that even if the president was around, he could say, Kutigi, the law allows you to do it;? go and do it. I am busy or I am l outside the country.
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“That is what I am saying. The law is there, the law has its own precedent. Nobody has done it. Of course, no CJN has sworn in another CJN. It makes no difference. The law makes provision for it. I was still the CJN until midnight of that day (December 31, 2009). So, what I did was within the confines of the law.”
The former CJN also vouched for the integrity of Salami, saying that he (Salami) had delivered landmark judgments that would stand the test of time.
He said:? “All I know is that he is a justice of the Court of Appeal and later the PCA. I have no personal relationship with him, only official. His judgments are always sound as far as I am concerned. Nobody ever reported him to us, or on any of his? judgments.
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He is quite disciplined. I never had a problem with him; nobody reported him to us.”? When asked why stakeholders could not resolve the crisis between Katsina-Alu and Salami, he replied that he was not consulted on the issue.
He added that would not like to be drawn into the matter on the grounds that the case was now in court, just as his comment might be subjudice.
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