The Nigerian Bar Association has appreciated the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad for his lengthy service to the nation, and wished him quick recovery.
In a statement on Monday in response to the resignation of Mohammad as the CJN, the NBA called for “urgent reforms” of the judiciary.
The statement was signed by the association’s President, Olumide Akpata.
It reads, “The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 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.”
The news of the sudden resignation of Mr Muhammad, 68, broke on Monday, June 27, 18 months before he is due for retirement, which supposed by December 31, 2023, when he would be 70.
Following the resignation, Olukayode Ariwoola, who is the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, is expected to be sworn in by President Muhammadu Buhari as acting CJN this Monday.
FirstNews had reported that 14 Justices of the Supreme Court recently sent a protest letter to Mr Muhammad where they said that the operational challenges that have almost crippled the efficient adjudication of cases at the court was the first of its kind in the 58-year history of the court.
The Justices decried the bad conditions of vehicles, electricity supply, accommodations, non-payment of allowances and dearth of supporting staff among others.
In his response, the former CJN lamented the leakage of the document to the public, saying that “Judges in all climes are to be seen and not heard”. Doing otherwise, he said, amounts “to dancing naked at the market square by us with the ripple effect of the said letter.”
He, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing, saying that he did everything possible to meet the needs of the justices and the court as much as possible.