A former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mohammed Uwais, has passed on at age 88. According to family and relatives who confirmed the incident, he passed just few days to his 89th birthday.
The retired judge passed away in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Friday, June 6, 2025.
Justice Uwais, who was born on June 12, 1936, was Nigeria’s Chief Justice from 1995 until his retirement in 2006.
Join our WhatsApp community
The late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua chose him to head the voting Reform Committee after he retired from the Supreme Court, and he was instrumental in attempts to enhance Nigeria’s voting system.
Uwais chaired a commission that published a much-publicised report on electoral reform.
Uwais was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple, London, in 1963 after graduating from the University of London.
He served as a State Counsel and Senior State Counsel (1966-1970), before his appointment as a Judge of the High Court, and later Chief Judge, of Kaduna State (1973-1976).
He was named a Justice of the Court of Appeal in 1977 and a Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court in 1979. He was named Chairman of the National Judicial Council and Chief Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1995.
From 1993 to 1994, Uwais chaired the Nigerian Body of Benchers. From 1995 to 2006, he chaired the National Judicial Institute of Nigeria’s Board of Governors.
Join our WhatsApp community
He served as Chairman of the Jimeta Disturbances Tribunal in Gongola State, Nigeria (1984), Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Military Government of North Central State’s Awarding of Contracts (1976), and a Commonwealth Member of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Deaths of Senior Army Personnel in Sri Lanka (1993).
The ex chief justice was also Chairman of the Nigerian Electoral Reform Committee (2007-2008) and was appointed Chancellor of Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Katsina, Katsina State in 2011.
Join Our Social Media Channels:
WhatsApp: NaijaEyes
Facebook: NaijaEyes
Twitter: NaijaEyes
Instagram: NaijaEyes
TikTok: NaijaEyes
