We Need To Rebuild Confidence In Judiciary – NBA Says As Ariwoola Becomes Acting CJN

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has reacted to the resignation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad on Monday and the swift appointment of the new Acting CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola same day.

Tanko had tendered his resignation based on grounds of ill health.

The NBA president, Olumide Akpata, wished him quick recovery and a well-deserved retirement but said in a statement that confidence in the judiciary was at an all time low.

He cited the recent protest by 14 justices of the Supreme Court about the poor working condition in the court as proof that there was need for urgent reforms in the Judiciary.

Akpata welcomed the appointment of Ariwoola as Acting CJN, pledging to work with him “in cleansing the Augean Stable and addressing the ills that have continued to plague not just the Judiciary but the entire legal profession.”

The statement partly reads:

“We thank His Lordship for his lengthy service to the nation, and wish him quick recovery even as we pray for a well-deserved peaceful retirement. In the course of previous publications and communications, I have consistently appreciated the outgone Chief Justice of Nigeria for the cordial working relationship between the Bar and the Bench under our respective administrations. I must do so again today as he bows out.

“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 Chief Justice of Nigeria over His Lordship’s handling of their welfare and related issues. Beyond this, there is near universal agreement that public confidence in the Judiciary and indeed the legal profession is at an all-time low.

“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. These should form the immediate first tasks for Honourable Mr. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who is expected to now take over as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria. “