The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Muhammad suddenly resigned yesterday.
Justice Muhammad bowed out of the office with one and half years to his statutory retirement on health grounds. He would have retired on December 31, 2024.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, 67, the second most senior justice of the Supreme Court, stepped in as Acting CJN.
Ariwoola took the oath of office before President Muhammadu Buhari to run the Judiciary while awaiting the Senate’s confirmation of his appointment as the 22nd CJN.
It has been learned that Muhammad, who was appointed in 2019, had been battling with a memory disorder, making him unable to fully discharge his responsibilities.
Additionally, the ex-CJN could no longer cope with the rigors of the bench, especially legal research.
But he didn’t want some forces to take advantage of his challenge to hijack or influence Supreme Court decisions, which they reckoned could cause a crisis in the country.
