CJN’s swearing-in confused me, VP says – Daily Trust

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan spoke for the first time yesterday on the confusion that preceded the swearing-in of Justice Aloysius Ityorgyer Katsina-Alu as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, saying he considered extending the tenure of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi before a legal solution to the quagmire was discovered.

Justice Kutigi had on Wednesday last week [December 30, 2009] sworn in Justice Katsina-Alu as the 11th Chief Justice of Nigeria, owing to the absence from the country of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, who would have sworn-in the CJN, as is the tradition. Kutigi had justified his action by citing the Oath Act of 2004, which empowers either the President or the outgoing Chief Justice to swear-in an in-coming Chief Justice.

Speaking at a thanksgiving service at the Redeemed Christian Church Central Parish in Abuja yesterday,  Vice President Jonathan  said when Justice Kutigi’s tenure was about to end, he was apprehensive that the Judiciary would be left without a leadership since he, as vice president, had no statutory power to swear-in the new CJN.