Justice Tanko Resigns As CJN, Writes President Buhari
The Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, has tendered his resignation letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Muhammad in the letter which he copied to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, cited ill-health as the reason for his decision.
This comes a few days after 14 justices of the Supreme Court lamented the decrepit state of affairs in the apex court.
In the leaked letter, the Justices accused Muhammad of abandoning his responsibilities as the leader of the court.
He was also accused of diverting their housing, vehicles and electricity allowances into his personal pocket.
According to Sahara Reporters, two sons of the Chief Justice of Nigeria emerged as the Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates of the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party respectively in Bauchi State.
While Siraj Ibrahim Tanko emerged as the APC candidate for Bauchi North, his brother, Sani won the ticket of the PDP to represent Shira/Giade federal constituency in Bauchi State at the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
“The Justices reiterated the fact that they are serving this country diligently and to the best of their ability and as such deserves the best compared to how they are being treated by the present CJN,” a top judicial officer.
“The Justices reminded the CJN of the facts that they resolve disputes between the Executive and the Legislature including all manner of disagreements, between governments and individuals and how it would be a tragedy if the Nigerian Public were to know that they are unable to resolve their own problems internally without going public due to neglect and lack of taking to corrections by the CJN.
“The Justices demanded that the CJN act before it is too late as all efforts in the past to resolve their complaints had yielded no result. The Justices recall that the CJN reluctantly called a Justices’ meeting on the 23rd day of March 2022 after several persistent requests to hold the meeting.
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“The Justices recalled that at their meeting of the 23rd day of March 2022 they tabled and discussed their demands on:
I. Justices accommodation,
II. Vehicles,
III. Electricity tariff,
IV. Supply of diesel,
V. Internet services to justices’ residences and chambers,
VI. Epileptic electricity supply to the Court,
“They also raised the issue of the failure of the Honourable Chief Justice to carry the Justices along in managing the affairs of the Court as well as the deteriorating condition of services generally. They frowned on how the CJN reneged on the agreement that the welfare committee be constituted to compile and forward their demands which were submitted to the CJN for his review.
“The welfare Committee submitted their request for diesel allowance, because of the epileptic electricity supply, the astronomical hike in the price of diesel and the fact that Justices require electricity to work at home. The Committee also requested for the restoration of their monthly Internet allowance, because they require uninterrupted Internet service in order to have access to materials online to write their judgments but the CJN ignored these demands since 24th March 2022.
“The worse part of the CJN corruption is the fact that some Justices sworn in since the 6th day of November 2020 were yet to be accommodated by the Court as they lived in their rented apartments with the attendant risks attached to the same. With regard to Justice’s vehicles, several justices are due for vehicle replacement, while the new Justices have not received their full complement of vehicles to date. Moreover, some of the vehicles supplied to the Justices are either refurbished or substandard.”