Idris Legbo Kutigi | |
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11th Chief Justice of Nigeria | |
In office 30 January 2007 – 30 December 2009 |
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Preceded by | Salihu Alfa Belgore |
Succeeded by | Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu |
Personal details | |
Born | 31 December 1939 |
Idris Legbo Kutigi (born December 31, 1939) is a Nigerian lawyer and judge. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from January 30, 2007 until 30 December 2009.
Born in Kutigi, North-Western State (now located in the Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State), Kutigi attended elementary school in that town and middle and secondary school in Bida. He then moved on to Government College (now known as Barewa College), and then to Ahmadu Bello University (both in Zaria, Kaduna State.) He left the country for England, where he studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Gibson and Weldon, before returning to attend the Nigerian Law School in Lagos, Lagos State.
Kutigi served as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State before becoming a high court judge in 1976. He joined the Supreme Court in 1992 and served for ten years before President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him to the position of Chief Justice to succeed the outgoing Salihu Alfa Belgore. Belgore retired on January 17 and Kutigi succeeded him on January 30, after being confirmed by the Senate. On Kutigi's retirement on December 30, 2009, he swore in his successor, Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu. The President of Nigeria usually swears in the Chief Justice, but was not available on this occasion due to ill health.