As the Nigerian judiciary and legal community mourn the death of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the incumbent, Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun in a letter of condolence said that the deceased left a legacy of handwork, honesty and dedication to work.
Justice Muhammad passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 71 while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi state, confirmed Muhammad’s passing in a condolence message issued by Mukhtar Gidado, his special adviser on media and publicity. He would have been 72 on December 31 2025.
Justice Kekere-Ekun expressed deep condolences saying the former CJN was a devout Muslim, a respected Jurist, who was courageous with exemplified highest ideals of the Bench. “He served as the Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 2006 to 2022 and as the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 2019 until his resignation in June 2022 on ground of ill-health”, she said in a letter signed by her secretary, Ahmed Gambo Saleh.
Hon Justice Tanko began his career in 1982, after he was called to the bar in 1981, the same year he graduated from the Nigerian Law School. In 1989, he was appointed as Chief Magistrate of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until 1991 when he became a Judge at the Bauchi State Sharia Court of Appeal. He served in that capacity for two years before he was appointed to the Bench of the Court of Appeal in 1993.
Justice Kekere-Ekun expressed her condolences to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the people and Government of Bauchi State, the immediate family of the late former CJN, the Nigerian Judiciary and the entire Legal Community. “I pray Almighty Allah to grant His Lordship and the rest members of his family, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Amen!”, she concluded.
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