Justice Olukayode Ariwoola will be sworn-in as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), after the sudden resignation of Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad from the exalted judicial position.
CJN’s spokesperson, Ahuraka Isah, confirmed the resignation of his principal on Monday morning.
Muhammad was reported to have tendered his resignation in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, citing health reasons.
Although reports had it that Justice Muhammad was seriously ill, his resignation comes amid corruption allegation levelled against him by some Supreme Court judges.
It would be recalled that the CJN, was last week accused of corruption and professional misconduct by 14 of the apex court judges.
Among the allegations levelled against the former CJN was owning some secret foreign accounts, which were run in a manner inconsistent with financial transparency and the code of conduct for public officials.
Muhammed, who denied the allegations of corruption levelled against him, stepped into office after Walter Onnoghen, his predecessor, was removed on a controversial note in 2019, following a petition filed against him at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) by a civil rights group.
Onnoghen was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on April 18, 2019, for false assets declaration, and banned from holding public office for 10 years.
In the meantime, if Ariwoola eventually takes over, Ariwoola is billed to leave the Judicial service in 2028.
Prior to becoming a Justice of the Supreme Court, Ariwoola was appointed a judge of the Oyo State High Court in 1992 and later made a Justice of the Court of Appeal in November 2005, afterwhich he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Justice on November 22, 2011.