Senate confirms Kutigi as CJN
The Senate Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Justice Idris Kutigi as the Chief Justice of the Federation, following a request by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Kutigi became acting chief justice last week after the retirement of Justice Alpha Belgore, being the most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
The Senate sent back the president's request for his confirmation last Thursday for failure to provide a security report on him and his code of conduct form.
At today's session of the Senate, Kutigi was drilled for more than one hour by the senators most of whom expressed concern about the slow justice system in the country.
The senators also complained about the role of the judiciary in some states that recently witnessed a spate of impeachment, wondering what the National Judicial Council, under Kutigi, would do to stem the tide.
Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP-Cross River), who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), recalled that states' legislature demonstrated a lot of rascality in the governors' impeachment.
He added that the citizenry was, therefore, interested in who occupied the country's highest judicial office.
``The court is the destination of democracy in Nigeria and it is only the judiciary that will give us the roadmap to that destination,'' Ndoma-Egba said.
He also noted that Kutigi had always been upholding the constitution in his handling of cases and urged fellow senators to confirm him.
Sharing similar sentiments, Sen. Lee Maeba (PDP-Rivers) described Kutigi as a good candidate for the post, adding that the political situation in the country required a chief judge of Kutigi's calibre.
Responding to the senators' questions, Kutigi said that he intended to amend the country's judicial rules, as part of efforts to shorten court proceedings.
He said that long delays in proceedings, especially in cases involving politicians, largely
depended on litigants who always came up with new prayers or injunctions.