Tobi Adebayo
Justice Tanko Muhammad has resigned as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
According to reports, Tanko resigned on Sunday night on grounds of ill-health.
It was learnt that the most Senior Justice of the Supreme Court , Justice Olukayode Ariwoola will be sworn-in as the acting CJN.
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ThisNigeria reported that fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court had accused Tanko of corruption and lack of transparency.
In a letter entitled: The state of affairs in the Supreme Court of Nigeria and demand by Justices of the Court’, the Justices expressed worry, and dissatisfaction and complained about their budgetary allocations that have not been increased in the last four years.
A couple of issues which include failure to replace dilapidated vehicles, accommodation problems, poor healthcare services at the Supreme Court Clinic, and poor electricity supply to the Supreme Court, were raised by the 14 Justices whose names appeared in the letter.
The 14 Justices who signed the letter include: Olukayode Ariwoola, Musa Dattijo Mohammed, Kudirat Motonmori O. Kekere-Ekun, John Inyang Okoro, Chima Centus Nweze, Amina Adamu Augie, and Uwani Musa Abba-Aji.
Others are Mohammed Lawal, Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju, Abdu Aboki, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Tijjani Abubakar, and Emmanuel Agim.
The Justices questioned the CJN’s sense of responsibility, saying they feared a potential shutdown of the judiciary due to the concerns they pointed out.
They pointed accusing fingers at the CJN for diverting their housing, vehicles, and electricity allowances into his pocket, and pursuing his children’s political ambitions.
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“We are serving this country diligently, and to the best of our ability. We resolve disputes between the Executive and the Legislature, including all manner of disagreements, between governments and individuals…
“It would be a tragedy if the Nigerian public were to know that we are unable to resolve our problems internally, without going public.
“The decision to write to you formally must be seen by Your Lordship as an effort on our part to preserve the dignity of the judiciary, and the respect accorded to us by governments and people of Nigeria,” the judges penned.
