List of chief justice of Nigeria

In this article we shall be discussing the followings:

Who is a chief judge?
Who is the first Supreme Court justice of Nigeria?
Who was fist female chief justice of Nigeria?
Who is current chief justice of Nigeria?
Past justices of the supreme court of nigeria.

Brief history of chief justice of Nigeria from 1914 till date.

Who is a chief judge?


A Chief Judge or Justice (also known as a Presiding Judge or Justice) is the lead judicial administrative officer within any multijudge court. The Chief Judge works alongside the Clerk of Court in his or her respective court by overseeing the day to day operations of that court.

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Who was the fist chief justice of Nigeria?

Sir Edwin Arney Speed was the first Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1914 to 1918. He was highly thought of by Lord Lugard who secured his appointment as the Chief Justice of the amalgamated Southern and Northern protectorates.

Who was the first female chief justice of Nigeria?

Aloma Mariam Mukhtar (1967): First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and its Chief Justice (2009–2014). She was also the first female lawyer in Northern Nigeria, as well as the first female Judge of the Kano High Court, Nigeria.

Who is current chief justice of Nigeria?

Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad CFR Is the incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria. He was formerly a Justice of the Nigerian Courts of Appeal.

Past justices of the supreme court of nigeria.

List of Chief Justice of Nigeria

The following are the List of Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1914 till date.

1. Sir Edwin Speed 1914–1918
2. Sir Ralph Combe 1918–1929
3. Donald Kingdon 1929–1946
4. Sir John Verity 1946–1954
5. Sir Stafford Sutton 1955–1958
6. Sir Adetokunbo Ademola 1958–1972
7. Taslim Olawale Elias 1972–1975
8.Darnley Arthur Alexander 1975–1979
9. Atanda Fatai Williams 1979–1983
10. George Sodeinde Sowemimo 1983–1985
11. Ayo Gabriel Irikefe 1985–1987
12. Mohammed Bello 1987–1995
13. Muhammad Lawal Uwais 1995–2006
14. Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore 2006–2007
15. Idris Legbo Kutigi 2007–2009
16. Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu 2009–2011
17. Dahiru Mustapher 2011–2012
18. Aloma Mariam Mukhtar 2012–2014
19. Mahmud Mohammed 2014–2016
20. Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen 2017–2019 21. Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad 2019.


Biography of Chief justice of Nigeria

Brief history of above chief justice of Nigeria from 1914 till date.

Sir Edwin Arney Speed

(11 March 1869 – 14 December 1941) was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1914 to 1918. He was highly thought of by Lord Lugard who secured his appointment as the Chief Justice of the amalgamated Southern and Northern protectorates. He was tasked by Lugard to unify the laws of the two colonies and to establish a single Supreme, Provincial and Native court system.
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Sir Ralph Molyneux Combe

(2 December 1872 – 16 February 1946) was a British barrister and colonial judge.

The son of Major-General J. J. Combe, he was educated at Haileybury College and Exeter College, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1894, and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1897. He was appointed Crown Advocate of British East Africa in 1905 and Attorney-General of the Protectorate in 1912. He was appointed Attorney-General of Nigeria in 1914 and Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1918, serving in this post until his retirement in 1929.
Combe was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours.
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3.

Sir Donald Kingdon

(24 November 1883 – 17 December 1961) was a British judicial officer who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1929 to 1946.

He remains Nigeria's longest serving Chief Justice. He served under four colonial Governors:
Graeme Thomson, Donald Cameron, Bernard Bourdillon and Arthur Richards.

He had previously served as the Attorney-General of Nigeria, from 1919 to 1925. He also edited and or composed several authoritative books about West African laws.
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4.

Sir John Verity

(1892 – 9 April 1970) was a British expatriate judge who was Chief Justice of Zanzibar[1] from 1939 until his appointment as Chief Justice of British Guiana in 1941. He was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1945.

Verity was born in London in 1892, the son of Rev. Heron Beresford Verity, he attended Vale College, Thanet then Diocesan College, British Honduras. "He was appointed Puisne Judge in British Guiana in 1936 and in 1939, he became Chief Justice of Zanzibar. After the end of his tenure as Chief Justice of Nigeria (1946-54), Verity was commissioner of Law Revision, Nigeria and co-authored a report with Fatayi Williams on the revised laws of Western Nigeria. On the 25 February 1918 he married his cousin Grace the daughter of Mabel Rochat, (both grandchildren of Charles Felix Verity of Vale Lodge, Winkfield Berkshire)
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5.

Sir Stafford William Powell Foster-Sutton

(24 December 1897 – 6 November 1991) was a British judge, who served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1955 to 1958.
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6.

Omoba Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola, KBE, GCON, PC, SAN

(1 February 1906 – 29 January 1993) was a Nigerian jurist who was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972. He was appointed as Chief Justice on April 1, 1958, replacing Sir Stafford Foster Sutton who was retiring. Ademola was a son of Oba Sir Ladapo Ademola II, the Alake of the Egba clan of Nigeria. He was the first chancellor of the University of Benin.
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7.

Taslim Olawale Elias

(11 November 1914 – 14 August 1991) was a Nigerian jurist. He was Attorney-General and Chief Justice of Nigeria and a judge and President of the International Court of Justice . He was a scholar who modernised and extensively revised the laws of Nigeria.
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8.

Sir Darnley Alexander , SAN CFR, GCFR

(28 January 1920 – 10 February 1989) was a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Chief Atanda Fatai Williams, SAN CFR, CON, GCFR

(22 October 1918 [1] – 10 April 2002) was a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

10.

Chief George Sodeinde Sowemimo, SAN, CON, CON, GCFR

(8 November 1920 – 29 November 1997) was a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria. Prior to becoming a Supreme Court judge, Sowemimo is remembered as the judge in the treasonable felony charge of the State v Omisade and others.

11.

Chief Ayo Gabriel Irikefe , SAN OFR, CON, GCFR

(March 3, 1922 – August 1, 1996) was a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

12.

Justice Mohammed Bello GCON

(1930 – 4 November 2004) was a Nigerian jurist and statesman who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1987 to 1995.

13.

Mohammed Lawal Uwais

(born 12 June 1936) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1995 until 2006. Later he chaired a commission that published a controversial report on electoral reform.

14.

Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON

(born January 17, 1937) is a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

15.

Idris Legbo Kutigi OFR, GCON

(31 December 1939 – 21 October 2018) was a Nigerian lawyer and judge. He was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State before becoming a high court judge. Legbo Kutigi joined the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1992 and served as Chief Justice from 30 January 2007 until 30 December 2009.
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16.

Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu

(28 August 1941 – 18 July 2018) was a Nigerian lawyer who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria . He is from Ushongo in what is now Benue State . Katsina-Alu has been a member of the court since 1998.

17.

Dahiru Musdapher

(15 July 1942 – 22 January 2018) was a Nigerian jurist. In 2011, he was appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He served as Chief Judge of the Kano State Judiciary from 1979 to 1985, and as a member of the Court of Appeal from 1985 until 2003.

18.

Aloma Mariam Mukhtar

(born 20 November 1944) is a Nigerian jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria from July 2012 to November 2014. She was called to the English Bar in November, 1966 and to the Nigerian Bar in 1967.

19.

Justice Mohammed

was born on November 10, 1946 in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, northeastern Nigeria. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree at Ahmadu Bello University in 1970 and was called to the Nigerian bar, the same year he graduated from the Nigerian Law School.

20.

Hon. Justice W.S. Nkanu Onnoghen

was born on the 22nd December, 1950 at Okurike Town, Biase L.G.A. of Cross Rivers State.

He attended the Presbyterian Primary School, Okurike Town between 1959 and 1965.

He later proceeded to Accra, Ghana to attend Odorgorno Secondary School, Adabraka, Accra, Ghana between 1967 and 1972 for his West African Examination Council (WAEC) Exams. He was at Accra Academy, Accra Ghana between 1972 and 1974 for his WAEC (A- Levels) before proceeding to the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana between 1974 and 1977 to obtain his Bachelor of Law Degree (LL.B (Hons)) and graduated with 2nd Class Upper Division.

21.

Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad CFR

(born 31 December 1953) is a Nigerian Jurist, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria. He was formerly a Justice of the Nigerian Courts of Appeal.

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Reference:

list of pass cjn by www.fjsc.gov.ng

Edwin speed by Wikipedia

Ralph molyneux combe by Wikipedia

Donald kingdom by Wikipedia

john verity by Wikipedia

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