Eighteen months ahead of his official retirement from the judiciary, Justice Tanko Mohammed, resigned his appointment on health grounds, after spending 15 years at the apex Court. He has been replaced by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who has been sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria by President Buhari.

President Muhammadu Buhari administered the oath of office to Justice Ariwoola during a swearing-in ceremony held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital. He is expected to serve in an acting capacity till his confirmation by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Justice Tanko Mohammed had been in the eye of the storm for some days following a protest memo written by the remaining fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court alleging maladministration against the outgone Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olumide Akpata, has called on the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, to reform the nation’s judiciary and restore public confidence in the third arm of government.

He called for urgent reforms in the judiciary and urged the incoming Chief Justice to make judicial reform and the restoration of public confidence in the judiciary his first task upon assuming office.

In a statement while reacting to the resignation of the former CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the NBA boss pledged the readiness of the Bar to work together with Justice Ariwoola in cleansing “the Augean stable and addressing the ills that have continued to plague not just the judiciary but the entire legal profession”.

He also thanked the outgone chief justice for the cordial working relationship between the bar and the bench during his tenure and wished him a quick recovery and well-deserved peaceful retirement.

“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,” said Akpata.

In a letter last week Monday entitled “The State of Affairs in the Supreme Court of Nigeria and Demand by Justices of the Supreme Court” purportedly written by the 14 Justices of the Supreme Court, they raised issues that may negatively impede their functions such as Justices accommodation, vehicles, electricity tariff, supply of diesel, lack of internet services to their residences and chambers, and epileptic electricity supply to the Court.

They also allege the failure of the Honourable Chief Justice to carry Justices along in managing the affairs of the Court, the deteriorating condition of services generally and the state of the litigation department.

A copy of the letter shows that the Justices allege that some new Justices are yet to receive their full complement of vehicles; those that are due for replacement have not been replaced while vehicles supplied to are either refurbished or substandard while the Chief Justice has not taken steps to address the issues.

The Justices also raised the issue of training and participation at foreign workshops which they alleged have been denied many of them and wondered if the funds meant for this have been diverted.

“We find it strange that in spite of the upward review of our budgetary allocation, the Court cannot cater for our legitimate entitlements” the letter reads.

“The Justices reiterated the fact that they are serving this country diligently and to the best of their ability and as such deserves the best compared to how they are being treated by the present CJN,”

“The Justices reminded the CJN of the facts that they resolve disputes between the Executive and the Legislature including all manner of disagreements, between governments and individuals and how it would be a tragedy if the Nigerian public were to know that they are unable to resolve their own problems internally without going public due to neglect and lack of taking to corrections by the CJN.

“The Justices demanded that the CJN act before it is too late as all efforts in the past to resolve their complaints have yielded no result. The Justices recall that the CJN reluctantly called a Justices’ meeting on the 23rd day of March 2022 after several persistent requests to hold the meeting.

The Justices recalled that at their meeting of the 23rd day of March 2022 they tabled and discussed their demands on:

I. Justices accommodation,

II. vehicles,

III. Electricity tariff,

1V. Supply of diesel,

V. Internet services to justices’ residences and chambers,

VI. Epileptic electricity supply to the Court.

Justice Tanko was born on 31 December 1953 at Doguwa – Giade, a local government area in Bauchi State, Northern Nigeria. He attended Government Secondary School, Azare where he obtained the West Africa School Certificate in 1973 before he later proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University where he received an LL.B. degree in Islamic law in 1980. He later obtained an LL.M. degree and a Ph.D. in law from the same university in 1985 and 1998 respectively