The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday demanded the urgent reform of the judiciary following the resignation of Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

“The NBA welcomes the appointment of Justice Ariwoola and pledges its readiness to work with him and the judiciary in cleansing the Augean Stable and addressing the ills that have continued to plague, not just the judiciary but the entire legal profession,” said NBA president Olumide Akpata reacting to Mr Muhammad’s resignation in a statement.

Mr Akpata admitted that public confidence in the judiciary and the legal profession was at an all-time low.
Mr Muhammad, 68, resigned on Monday amid corruption, gross misconduct charges from 14 Supreme Court justices. To avoid a vacuum, the next most senior justice on the bench of the Supreme Court, Olukayode Ariwoola, was on Monday sworn in by President Mohammadu Buhari to take over in acting capacity.

“There is now more than ever the need for urgent reforms in the judiciary and to rebuild the almost dissipated confidence that Nigerians have in the judiciary and the wider legal profession in Nigeria,” Mr Akpata pointed out. “These should form the immediate first tasks for Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who is expected to now take over as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.”

The NBA president also said the CJN’s resignation could not be divorced from the raging crisis in the Supreme Court with the 14 other justices of the court accusing him of poor handling of their welfare.

“It is, however, impossible to consider His Lordship’s retirement in isolation of the recent unprecedented developments at the Supreme Court where 14 justices of the court censured the outgone CJN over his handling of their welfare and related issues,” Mr Akpata argued.

He wished the ex-CJN well and lauded him for maintaining a good relationship between the bar and the bench.

(NAN)