KATSINA-ALU’S SUCCESSOR: Fresh rumblings in judiciary

AN ominous cloud is gathering in the troubled justice sector over the successor to the incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu,

which might see the next in line, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, missing out in the traditional seniority succession arrangement.

The incumbent will bow out on August 28, 2011 when he would be 70 years.

Musdapher is next in seniority and should, by sustained succession arrangement, be nominated by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) as Katsina-Alu’s successor.

Nigerian Tribune, however, can reveal that underground moves are on by some stakeholders in the system to see a change in the succession arrangement that might see the next justice of the apex court to Musdapher, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukthar, taking over as the first female CJN in history in August.

Interestingly, Musdapher and Mukhtar were originally judges in old Kano State before state creation moved Musdapher to Jigawa, though not until Musdapher had been the state Chief Judge.

Mukhtar was appointed judge in 1977, while Musdapher was appointed on January 1, 1979, though Musdapher ended up being her senior both at the Court of Appeal and the apex court.

If appointed CJN in August, Musdapher would clock 70 years on July 15, 2012, spending less than 11 months in office.

Mukhtar would then take over and spend about two years and four months and quit on November 20, 2014 when she would be 70 years.

However, the moves by different stakeholders in the judicial system might see her becoming the CJN earlier than 2012 or missing out completely on it like Musdapher if the plans by some powerful elements in the system to have a complete outsider appointed as Katsina-Alu’s successor materialise.

Some people have been pushing for an outright jettisoning of those in line for the plum job and appoint a qualified new face for outside of the apex court.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Olisa Agbakoba, had publicly lent his voice to the jettisoning of Musdapher and others, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint someone from outside of the apex court to succeed Katsina-Alu, as he did with the appointment of Professor Attahiru Jega in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for which he had received global accolades.

The appointment process is through the FJSC nominating to the National Judicial Council (NJC), which in turn nominates to the president who appoints and sends the appointee’s name to the Senate for screening and confirmation, before the president finally swears him or her in.

While Agbakoba spoke publicly against the traditional succession, Nigerian Tribune can reliably disclose that many top stakeholders in the system had been making surreptitious moves to stop especially Musdapher from getting into the office, with petitions containing weighty allegations being packaged by them for onward delivery to the offices central to the appointment, as well as security agencies that would screen the proposed CJN.

It was also learnt that litigation might also come up on the matter if the FJSC went ahead to nominate Musdapher to the NJC or the NJC nominating him to the president.