Justice Mahmud Mohammed has been recommended by the National Judicial Council, NJC, to President Goodluck Jonathan for appointment as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
This is coming ahead of the retirement of the present CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who will be leaving office on November 20 when she would have clocked the mandatory retirement age of 70 years. She was born on November 20, 1944.
Similarly, the Council recommended the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Sunday Olorundahunsi, to the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for appointment as a judge of the state High Court.
Should President Jonathan approve the council’s recommendation, he would then be expected to forward Mohammed’s name to the Senate for confirmation.
It will be recalled that the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) had last week recommended Mohammed to replace the outgoing CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar.
Succession to the office which has largely been based on seniority favours Justice Mohammed as he is the next most senior justice of the Supreme Court. It is also on record that the president has always appointed the most senior Justice as the CJN.
Justice Mohammed, who hails from Jalingo in Taraba State was born on November 10, 1946. He studied for his Bachelor’s degree in Law (LL.B) at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and graduated in 1970. After graduation, he attended the Nigerian Law School in Lagos and was subsequently called to bar in 1971.
He started his career in public service with the Ministries of Justice of the defunct North-eastern State, and Gongola State, and the judiciary of the defunct Gongola State.
In 1991, he was appointed the Acting Chief judge of Taraba State, and later confirmed the substantive Chief Judge of Taraba State in the same year.
Before he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2005, he had served as Justice of the Court of Appeal, and was later made presiding justice.
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