get_instance() in Codeigniter: Why assign it to a variable?

In Codeigniter, get_instance() is a globally available function that returns the Controller super-object which contains all the currently loaded classes (it returns the Controller class instance). I'll include the current source code:

get_instance() is defined in Codeigniter.php

// Load the base controller class
require BASEPATH.'core/Controller.php';

function &get_instance()
{
    return CI_Controller::get_instance();
}

And CI_Controller is defined in Controller.php

class CI_Controller {

    private static $instance;

    /**
     * Constructor
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        self::$instance =& $this;

        // Assign all the class objects that were instantiated by the
        // bootstrap file (CodeIgniter.php) to local class variables
        // so that CI can run as one big super object.
        foreach (is_loaded() as $var => $class)
        {
            $this->$var =& load_class($class);
        }

        $this->load =& load_class('Loader', 'core');

        $this->load->set_base_classes()->ci_autoloader();

        log_message('debug', "Controller Class Initialized");
    }

    public static function &get_instance()
    {
        return self::$instance;
    }
}

Here's how it is recommended to be used in the user guide for creating libraries:

Utilizing CodeIgniter Resources within Your Library

To access CodeIgniter's native resources within your library use the get_instance() function. This function returns the CodeIgniter super object.

Normally from within your controller functions you will call any of the available CodeIgniter functions using the $this construct: $th