The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has resigned on health grounds.
The next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Olukayode Ariwoola, who hails from Oyo State, is expected to be sworn in in acting capacity, sources at the Supreme Court who confirmed Mr Muhammad’s resignation, say.
The resignation by Mr Muhammad, 68, comes about 18 months ahead of his official retirement in December 2023, when he will clock 70.
Mr Muhammad’s abrupt exit comes at a time when his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench accused him of hampering the operations of the Supreme Court by failing to fund judges’ welfare as well as fueling of generators among others.
A leaked memo by 14 Justices of the Supreme Court protesting Mr Muhammad’s handling of the operations of the court surfaced online last week.
Such letter leaking to the public is unprcedented in the history of Nigerian Supreme Court.
Mr Muhammad is leaving behind the crises enumerated…
