Justice Mahmud Mohammed: Judicial reformer
Justice Mahmud Mohammed was the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) November 2014 to November 10, 2016 when he finally bowed out after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70. He left the Supreme Court Bench during one of the apex court’s most turbulent periods in history. It is, however, certain that history will be kind […]
Justice Mahmud Mohammed was the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) November 2014 to November 10, 2016 when he finally bowed out after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70.
He left the Supreme Court Bench during one of the apex court’s most turbulent periods in history.
It is, however, certain that history will be kind to him because he led the nation’s judiciary through major reforms and great innovations, for which the legal profession and indeed the country must be grateful.
Justice Mahmud Mohammed will be remembered not just for his judicial pronouncements, but as a CJN who spearheaded some of the most innovative reforms in judiciary.
He championed the reform of the process of the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) leading to the enactment of the Guidelines for the Conferment of the Award of the Rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, 2016. The exercises for the award of the rank which he led in both 2015 and 2016 have been adjudged as among the fairest and most rigorous since the award started.
Justice Mohammed, as chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, has overseen the implementation of the new guidelines for the appointment of judicial officers. This process has become more rigorous and transparent. It is also during the term of Justice Mohammed that the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the new National Judicial Policy were enacted in February 2016 and April 2016 respectively.
Since he assumed office as Chief Justice, Mahmud Mohammed has introduced several measures to speed up the pace of justice. He introduced a second panel of the court. This has proved greatly helpful in clearing the backlog of cases pending in the court.
He also pursued vigorously the implementation of the Judicial Information Technology Policy. In collaboration with the NBA, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has pioneered the introduction of the use of a secure legal email system that will enable secure communication between the Supreme Court legal practitioners. This when fully implemented will greatly enhance the speed of justice delivery in the nation’s apex court.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, said that Justice Mohammed has had exemplary career and everyone who knows him will remember him as a man of unblemished character and integrity; a man who personifies modesty, humility and simplicity; invaluable qualities for all who seek career on the bench.
Justice Mahmud Mohammed had a remarkable career on the Bench and he made an indelible mark. According to the NBA president, he is known for his clinical legal mind and also as one focused on substantive justice.
“He has through countless number of decisions made a huge impact on the nation’ s jurisprudence in diverse areas of the law, ranging from criminal law, to contract, to employment law and, of course, election jurisprudence. The common thread running through all these cases was the uncanny ability to weave through complex legal arguments and strike at the heart of the matter,” the NBA president said.
Lawyers in Nigeria will remember Justice Mahmud Mohammed for his forthrightness and for remaining faithful to his judicial oath of dispensing justice fairly and without any fear, favour, affection or ill will.
In Mohammed v State, (2013) 5 NWLR, 315, Justice Mahmud Mohammed demonstrated his ability to maintain a delicate balance between procedural justice and substantive justice. This was brought out, among others, in the case of an 80-year-old man facing the death penalty. He had been convicted for culpable homicide punishable by death. He was alleged to have killed a man he suspected to be having an affair with his wife. He had been assigned a counsel by the trial court.
The record of the trial, however, did not show that the appellant’s plea was taken before the case went to trial. On appeal, the Court of Appeal nullified the trial but sent the case back for retrial. On further appeal to the Supreme Court, in his lead Judgment, Justice Mohammed allowed the appeal and set the 80-year-old man free.
His reasoning was that in ordering a trial, the Court of Appeal did not take cognisance of the fact that the appellant had spent 14 years in detention and the evidence in the record revealed that even if he was convicted of the offence of culpable homicide after a retrial, the defence of provocation, availed the appellant for which he had already served adequate sentence.
According to the NBA president, Justice Mahmud Mohammed is well known for his candour. He never lost opportunity of expressing himself. He often rebuked lawyers for falling short in their professional responsibilities.
His warning to counsel, in Ibama v. SPDC (Nigeria) Ltd (2005) 17 NWLR pt. 954, 364 @ 385 -386, is worth recounting when he said: “…I am completely at a loss to see the necessity of prosecuting this case right from the trial High Court through to the Court of Appeal and ultimately to this court ending in abysmal failure at each stage: The question then is whether it was not really a futile exercise for the learned counsel to the appellant to have saddled the trial court, the Court of Appeal and lastly this court with a case which the appellant himself seemed to have agreed that there was no real dispute between him and the respondent.
“For this it is necessary to observe that learned counsel exercising their professional responsibilities in pursuing matters in our courts of law on behalf of their clients must exercise caution and due diligence in not wasting their energies and valuable time leading to the precious time and energies of the courts also being wasted in pursuing matters which are not only clearly without merit but which even the parties themselves as in the present case, do not support.”
He is also a firm believer of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He championed the enactment of the Supreme Court Mediation Rules 2016 and also the establishment of the Supreme Court Mediation Center. To further support these, the NJC under his leadership now recognises that matters disposed by judges utilizing the ADR processes will count in judicial performance evaluation.
Justice Mohammed on the eve of the end of his term inaugurated the First Judicial Ethics Committee under the chairmanship of Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, retired Chief Justice of Nigeria.
In the area of sports, during the run up to the 2015 Annual General Conference of the NBA in Abuja, Justice Mahmud Mohammed led the team of the Judiciary called Judiciary Strikers FC against NBA Bulldozers FC which ended in a 4-1 defeat of the NBA Bulldozers FC. It was gathered that Justice Mohammed scored two goals including the opening goal.
It was also during his term that the Supreme Court complex, Abuja witnessed massive beautification.
Without doubt Justice Mahmud Mohammed will be remembered as a champion of judicial reforms in Nigeria. He is a disciplined man and has led this court with honesty and integrity.
Are you still wondering what will become of him now that the rigours of the Bench is behind him? Justice Mahmud Mohammed said he is likely to go into farming and cattle rearing as this would undoubtedly bring about a positive impact on one’s health and income.
Justice Mahmud Mohammed was born in Jalingo, Taraba State on 10th November, 1946. He had his early elementary and primary education at Mallam Kasimu Koranic School and Jalingo Junior Primary School from 1950 to 1956.
He completed his primary education at the Senior Primary School Jalingo which he attended from 1957 to 1959. He later proceeded to Secondary Technical School/Government College, Kaduna from 1960 to1964, where he obtained the West Africa School Certificate (WASC). He attended Government College now Rumfa College, Kano from 1965 to 1966 for his Higher School Certificate.
Justice Mohammed studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria between 1967 and 1970 and was at the Nigerian Law School between1970 and 1971.
He began his career in public service with the Ministry of Justice of the defunct North-Eastern State, and later Gongola State. He was Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Gongola State from October 1981 to December 1983. He served as Chief Magistrate Grade One before joining the High Court Bench of Gongola State in 1985.
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. He was elevated to the bench of the Court of Appeal in 1992 and to the bench of the Supreme Court in 2005.
Justice Mahmud Mohammed is a recipient of several national honours too numerous to mention.
He is married and has children. His hobbies include reading, photography swimming, farming, rearing animals and keeping pets.