While reacting to the resignation of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad and the swearing in of a new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has openly made demands for the urgent reform of the judiciary which would be following the resignation of Justice Tanko Muhammad as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
Justice Tanko Muhammad who was 68 years old had on Monday, tendered in his resignation from his position on health grounds.
Reacting to Muhammad’s resignation in a statement, the NBA President Olumide Akpata had also prayed for a peaceful retirement and wished him a quick recovery.
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Akpata noted that the former Chief Justice had served the nation for a long time. However, he said that public confidence in the judiciary and indeed the legal profession was at an all-time low and this needed to be corrected.
“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 Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who is expected to now take over as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
“The NBA welcomes the appointment of Justice Ariwoola and pledges its readiness to work with him 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.
“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 CJN over his handling of their welfare and related issues.
Thereafter, he commended the outgone CJN for having a cordial working relationship with the bar and the bench.