By Vivian Micheal, Abuja
Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Monday resigned his office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) citing ill-health as reasons for his action.
Sequel to the resignation, President Muhamadu Buhari, swore in Justice Olukayode Ariowoola to be in acting capacity, pending confirmation as a substantive CJN in three months’ time.
The resignation is coming few days after he suffered a vote of no confidence from 14 of the 15 justices of the bench, who accused him of alleged corruption, high-handedness, mismanagement of funds and absence of probity, insisting on full blown investigation.
The new CJN, Justice Ariwoola, who was born on August 22, 1958, studied law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife and bagged his Bachelor of Law degree with honors in July, 1980.
In July 1981, Ariwoola was called to the Nigerian bar and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate soon thereafter.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olumide Akpata, thanked the retired CJN for his services to the nation, wishing him a quick recovery.
According to him, the sudden retirement has everything to do with the recent development at the Apex Court concerning the CJN’s alleged handling of their welfare and related issues.
Akpata, therefore, called on the the newly minted CJN to consider, as a matter of urgency, need for reforms in the Judiciary and to rebuild the almost dissipated confidence that Nigerians have in the Judiciary and the wider legal profession in Nigeria.
The statement reads: “I has received the news of the resignation, on grounds of ill health, of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Dr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR. We thank His Lordship for his lengthy service to the nation, and wish him quick recovery even as we pray for a well-deserved peaceful retirement.
”In the course of previous publications and communications, I have consistently appreciated the outgone Chief Justice of Nigeria for the cordial working relationship between the Bar and the Bench under our respective administrations.
”I must do so again today as he bows out. It is however impossible, to consider His Lordship’s retirement in isolation of the recent unprecedented developments at the Supreme Court where 14 Justices of the Court censured the outgone Chief Justice of Nigeria over His Lordship’s handling of their welfare and related issues.
”Beyond this, there is near universal agreement that public confidence in the Judiciary and indeed the legal profession is at an all-time low.
”There is now more than ever the need for urgent reforms in the Judiciary and to rebuild the almost dissipated confidence that Nigerians have in the Judiciary and the wider legal profession in Nigeria.
”These should form the immediate first tasks for Honourable Mr. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who is expected to now take over as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
”The NBA welcomes the appointment of Honourable Mr. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and pledges its readiness to work together with His Lordship and the Judiciary in cleansing the Augean Stable and addressing the ills that have continued to plague not just the Judiciary but the entire legal profession.”