At last the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Muhammed has bowed to pressure from justices as he has resigned his position.
This is coming against the backdrop of protests by 14 Justices of the Supreme Court to the CJN, lamenting the parlous state of affairs in the court.
Muhammad was first appointed in January 2019, after President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen over allegations of false declaration of asset before his tenure in the acting capacity was extended by three months in April, same year.
The protest letter by the justices had chronicled the operational challenges that have almost crippled the efficient adjudication of cases at the court.
The aggrieved justices led by the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court, Olukayode Ariwoola, listed the issues to include — vehicles, electricity tariff, supply of diesel, Internet services to (Justices’) residences and chambers, and epileptic electricity supply to the court.
After complaints that were raised at a March 2022 meeting “after several persistent requests to hold the meeting,” a “welfare committee” was set up to aggregate the issues.
But the justices said, “Your Lordship (the CJN) received and ignored these demands since 24th March 2022.”
The letter indicated some justices who were sworn in two years ago, lack residential accommodation at the court.
“At the Justices meeting, we intimated your Lordship that some Justices sworn on the 6th day of November 2020 were yet to be accommodated by the Court.
On the issue of overseas training, the CJN was accused of gallivanting with his “spouse, children and personal staff,” while depriving the rest of the judges of the Supreme Court of such. On two occasions when the judges travelled overseas for the training, they said, they were not allowed to go with an assistant as it used to be under previous administrations.
“We demand to know what has become of our training funds, have they been diverted, or is it a plain denial?” the justices queried.
“Your Lordship’s assumption of office Justices only attended two workshops in Dubai and Zanzibar. They were not accorded the privilege of travelling with accompanying persons as was the practice,” the letter said.