Intrigues in Supreme Court over Katsina-Alu’s exit date

Guardian

21 Feb 2011

Intrigues in Supreme Court over Katsina-Alu’s exit date

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A ROUND of intrigues is brewing among members of the exalted bench over an alleged “bid” by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ignatius Iyorgher Katsina - Alu to stay beyond his tenure in office. At the heart of the matter is: When was Katsina-Alu born and so, when should he retire?

Whereas the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Staff Nominal Roll indicates that Katsina-Alu’s was born on May 28, 1941, the Current List of Council Members and their Expiration Date has his retirement age as 28 August, 2011.

Meanwhile, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has admitted that there is corruption in the judiciary and set up a committee to probe all allegation of corruption on the bench.

In the country’s constitution, all Supreme Court Justices retire at the mandatory age of seventy years, not a day beyond that age.       

But the current Chief Justice Katsina-Alu is being alleged to insist on surpassing the 70 years benchmark, and this is generating a lot of disaffection amongst other senior judicial officers.   

A copy of the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Staff Nominal Roll and Current List of Council Members and Their Expiration Date obtained by The Guardian clearly shows that Katsina-Alu has been slated to remain as CJN three months after he is supposed to have reached the mandatory 70 years retirement age for a Justice of the apex court.