Buhari swears in Mohammed Tanko as CJN

Nigeria’s President Muhammmadu Buhari on Wednesday sworn in Tanko Mohammad as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Mohammed, who will now be Nigeria’s 18th CJN, became the acting CJN when the former CJN Walter Onnoghen was suspended on the grounds of false assets declaration.

On 11 July 2019, he was nominated as CJN by the president barely 24 hours after the National Judicial Council recommended him.

Mohammed began his career in 1982, after he was called to the bar in 1981, the same year he graduated from the Nigerian Law School.

In 1989, he was appointed as Chief Magistrate of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until 1991 when he became a Judge at the Bauchi State Sharia Court of Appeal.

He served in that capacity for two years before he was appointed to the bench of the Nigerian courts of appeal as Justice in 1993.

He held this position for thirteen years before he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006 but was sworn in on January 7, 2007.