Nigeria’s top judge bows out with a rite

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja

Outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher in his last official function as the CJN on Friday swore in two newly elevated justices of the Supreme Court, Justice Musa Dantijo Mohammed and Justice Clara Ogunbiyi, another new woman, moments before the commencement of activities marking his retirement from office.

He called on the newly sworn in Justices to be guided in their actions by the Constitution that they have sworn to protect and observed that the elevation of another woman into the elite judicial office is an indication that the Nigerian women have decided to come out to be counted. He adviced the new justices to be hard working, noting that the reward for hard work is more work. He also informed them to note that as they sit over cases, they too are also on trial.

This swearing in of the new Supreme Court justices brings the number of justice at the apex court to 17.

In an address delivered at the valedictory session for the outgoing CJN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, praised the contribution of Justice Dahiru Musdapher in the delivery of justice in Nigeria since he joined the bench about 44 years ago as well as the laudable reforms he introduced as the head of the judiciary.

Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, a senior advocate of Nigeria and former AGF who spoke on behalf of the body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria also lauded the contributions of Justice Dahiru Musdapher expecially in some landmark cases which had contributed in no small way to the futherance of the rule of law and orderliness.

In his address at the event, Mr. Joseph Bodunrin Dawodu, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, pointed out that the antecedents of the retiring CJN speaks well of him and noted that he is a cherished ambassador of the Nigerian Bar.”His judgments are lucid and rich in content and portrays an intelligent mind well grounded in the law. There is a litany of his judgment where he exhibited vision, education and grasp of the law”.

Dawodu further stated that the retiring CJN came on board amidst shouts of corruption in the judiciary when the brouhaha of allegations of corruption that bedeviled the Justice Katsina Alu tenure was at its peak. Justice Dahiru’s tenure, he observed, has been the most vibrant and most reform- focused.”He set up a reform committee head by Uwais which produced a comprehensive document for revamping the judiciary which he started implementing immediately upon receiving the Committee’s recommendation which led to his submitting about 47 proposals to the National Assembly for Constitutional amendment”.

The NBA President also pointed out that Justice Dahiru saw the need for a radical transformation of the Information Technology policy in the judiciary and introduced reforms which when implemented within the entire nation’s judiciary, will engender e- transactions in the judiciary and speed up the judicial process. “The retiring CJN has played his part, what remains is for his successors to rigorously implement and build upon his legacy” the NBA President stated.Mr. Dawodu called on the incoming CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, to continue with these reforms as they are the way forward noting that doing otherwise will sound a death knell for the judiciary. He also challenged her to tackle the menace of retaining sick and non performing justices in the system which he said blocks the way for young and hard working persons to ascend the Bench.He also challenged the judiciary to put a stop to errant judges who engage in profitable ventures outside their job as they leave their jobs to suffer and called for a scientific way to ascertain the real age of judicial officers as some judges across the federation are known to be older that their retirement age but have consistently manipulated their ages. According him, when this calibre of judicial officers die after they eventually retire, one will be surprised to find their obituary signed by their family showing that the person had attained an age that is at variance with the official age.

In his valedictory speech, Justice Musdapher noted that his time on the bench as a judicial officer is about to end. “By virtue of section 291 of the Constitution, I shall cease to be a judicial officer on Sunday, the 15th of July when I shall become 70 years old” “I have had a long and fulfilled working life. I have been a lawyer of 44 years, 33 of which were spent on the bench. It is has not been easy, for the life of a judge, and perhaps seven fold harder, in a young democracy such as ours.It is a heavy burden that fate has placed on our mortal shoulders, and though I shall miss the only life I have known for such a long time, I look forward to retirement with the hope that I have made a positive difference to my society as a legal practitioner, a judge and finally as the head of this nation’s judiciary”Justice Musdapher recounted the series of reforms that he had introduced in the judiciary aimed at piloting the drive towards restoring public confidence in the judiciary. These, according to him, led to the constitution itution tuting of Stakeholders Committee made up of eminent jurists and legal practitioners mandated to identify problems in the administration of justice. It was chaired by Justice Mohammed Uwais, a former CJN.