Date: 2012-03-02

The pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi, has stepped into the crisis rocking the Kwara State judiciary. Others who have intervened are former Grand Khadi of the state Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice AbdulKadir Orire and ex- chief judge of the state, Justice Saka Yusuf. Members of the state branch of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) two weeks ago embarked on a strike to protest the reinstatement, by the Supreme Court, of the sacked Chief Judge, Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb. The three men meet with the CJ on Sunday. A former Justice of the Supreme Court and the first indigenous judge in the state, Justice Saidu Kawu, was said to have urged them to broker a truce between Elelu-Habeeb and the workers. The former Appeal Court president said this yesterday in an interview programme: , "The Platform", hosted by Radio Kwara.  He said he hoped that the three men would convince both parties to settle their differences. Akanbi said he taught the CJ at the Law School, while she was also a pupil of Justice Orire at Baboko, a school in Ilorin, the state capital. His words: "Justice Kawu, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, the most senior judge who retired in the state and the first indigenous judge in Kwara State, summoned us- my humble self, the Honourable Grand Khadi, Justice AbdulKadir Orire and Justice Saka Yusuf (former Chief Judge) to see what we can do. Of course, we cannot keep quiet when things are going wrong."