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Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has died at the age of 71, barely two weeks before his 72nd birthday.
Mr Muhammad, who was born in 1953 in Giade Local Government Area of Bauchi State, would have turned 72 on 31 December. Sources within the judiciary confirmed his death on Tuesday, a development also acknowledged by the Nigerian Association of Muslim Law Students (NAMLAS) in a statement.
Details surrounding his death remain unclear at the time of filing this report. However, he was said to have died after battling an undisclosed illness.
His passing comes nearly three and a half years after he stepped down from office on June 27, 2022, citing health reasons. The resignation occurred 18 months before his mandatory retirement date of December 31, 2023.
Mr Muhammad was Nigeria’s 17th Chief Justice and assumed office in January 2019 following the suspension of his predecessor, Walter Onnoghen. He served for three years and five months, overseeing the judiciary during a period marked by significant internal challenges.
His sudden departure from office followed a deepening crisis at the Supreme Court, triggered by allegations from 14 fellow justices who accused him of undermining the court’s operations. The justices alleged persistent failures in funding judges’ welfare, fueling generators, and providing other essential services required for the court’s effective functioning.
A memo authored by the 14 Supreme Court justices detailing these grievances later surfaced in the public domain, an unprecedented development in the history of Nigeria’s apex court. The issues raised in the document remained unresolved at the time of Mr Muhammad’s exit from office.
