CJN Tanko resigns amid corruption, gross misconduct charges from 14 Supreme Court justices

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad has resigned.He resigned last night on grounds of ill-health.

Information also has it that arrangements are now on to swear in the next most senior justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Reports also indicate that a formal announcement will be made shortly.

Until his resignation, reports had it that Justice Tanko Muhammed was seriously ill.

Only last week, 14 justices of the Supreme Court had written him a letter to lament the decrepit state of affairs in the court

Born on 31 December 1953, Justice Tanko became the Chief Justice of Nigeria on July 11, 2019.

Tanko began his career in 1982, after being called to bar in 1981. In 1989, he was appointed as Chief Magistrate of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until 1991, when he became a Judge at the Bauchi State Sharia Court of Appeal.

Justice Tanko served in that capacity for two years before being appointed to the bench of the Nigerian courts of appeal as Justice in 1993.

He held this position for thirteen years before he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006, but was sworn in on 7 January, 2007.