HE appears to be very quiet, calm and calculative and rarely speaks in the public. But when he does, everybody listens. That is Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria. A great jurist, whose life after bowing out of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, has become synonymous with the chairmanship of vital government committees. His level of dedication, commitment, hardwork and patriotism to national assignment, is infectious and indeed, worthy of emulation. Untiring, even at retirement, he is willing to still serve his fatherland.Perhaps for his level of integrity, commitment, honesty and willingness to serve after retiring from the Supreme Court in 1996, he was appointed by the then President, the late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to chair a panel on electoral reform. The committee after touring round the country submitted a report on December 11, 2008 with recommendations that included establishing commissions to deal with Electoral Offences, Constituency Delineation and Political Parties Registration and Regulation.That Committee, popularly known as Uwais Panel, recommended that some of the powers vested in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the State Independent Electoral Commissions should be transferred to the new commissions to be established.The committee also recommended proportional representation in elections to the Federal and State legislatures and to the local councils.In addition, it recommended that the head of INEC should be appointed by the judiciary instead of the President, but this recommendation was rejected by the late President Yar'Adua.Yar'Adua forwarded a modified version of the Uwais report to the National Assembly in 2009, drawing considerable criticisms since many felt that recent elections had been deeply flawed and that basic reforms were required.In March 2010, acting President then, Goodluck Jonathan forwarded an unedited version of the report to the National Assembly for approval, by implication, saying that the recommendations should be implemented in their entirety before the 2011 national elections.The issue of power to appoint the INEC head remained controversial. Before Jonathan had resubmitted the report, the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution had rejected the recommendation to transfer this power to the judiciary. After the resubmission, deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Mohammed Mana, argued that letting judiciary appoint the INEC chairman violated the principle of separation of powers, since the judiciary was responsible for hearing the cases arising from elections.Uwais, 75, became involved in the Nigerian judicial system in the 1960s. He held various positions within the judicial system before becoming Chief Justice, such as state counsel and senior state counsel. He worked in the Court of Appeal for 16 years before he was elevated to the Supreme Court.His footprints in the nation's judicial landscape have remained indelible. He is gifted with sharp intellect. This is made manifest in his numerous judgments, which have remained locus classicus in the legal sector in Nigeria and beyond.In the celebrated case No: SC.66/1999 in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sought to conduct fresh governorship primaries after Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was elevated to the position of presidential running mate to Olusegun Obasanjo, after winning the gubernatorial election in Adamawa State with Boni Haruna as his running mate, Uwais' great sense of judgment came to bear.The parties were between Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr. Bonnie Haruna (Appellants) and Independent National Electoral Commission, The Resident Electoral Commissioner Adamawa State, All Peoples' Party, Dr. Bala Takaya and Abdul Rahman Adamu. The learned jurist held as follows: 'I am of the opinion, with respect that the reliance of the Court of Appeal on the maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius led it to deny the 2nd Appellant the right to remain as Deputy Governor elect and to succeed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as Governor of Adamawa State.In keeping with the principle of interpretation of our Constitution, I stated in the case of Abdulkarim v. Incar, (Nigeria) Ltd (1992) 2 N.S.C.C. (Part2) 564 at p. 572 as follows:'With respect, I think that is too narrow a meaning to be given to the words. It is settled that in the interpretation of any provisions of the Constitution our courts should be liberal so that the intendment of the Constitution can be met. I cannot put this better than had been done by Sir Udo Udoma, in Nafiu Rabiu v. The State (1981) 2 NCLR. 293 at p. 326, where he said:'And where the question is whether the Constitution had used an expression in the wider or narrower sense, in my view this Court should whenever possible lean to the broader interpretation, unless there is something in the text or in the rest of the Constitution to indicate that the narrower interpretation will carry out the object and purpose of the Constitution.'He stated that it was clear from the scheme of Decree No. 3 of 1999 as shown by Sections 37(1) and 45(1) of the Decree, that the intention of the law makers is that after the election to the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor, if the Governor elect is not available to run his office, the Deputy governor elect should take over from him by replacing him. 'In the light of this, therefore, the provisions of section 37 subsection (1) should not have been given a narrow meaning. The 2nd Appellant should not be denied the right to be Deputy Governor and as Deputy Governor, to succeed the Governor when the latter is unavailable to occupy the office. This is what the justice of this case demands', he declared.He dismissed the decision of the court of Appeal which held that fresh primaries be conducted in Adamawa State.His words: 'In the final result, I allow the appeal and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal in its entirety. In its place, I restore the decision of the Federal High Court, which granted all the claims of the Plaintiffs (1st and 2nd Appellants herein) against the 1st and 2nd Defendants (1st and 2nd Respondents herein) with N10,000.00 costs against the said 1st and 2nd Defendants only.'Also in the case number: SC 90/1984 between J. O. Anakwenze (appellant) and Louis Aneke & ors (respondent), Uwais delivering the Lead Judgment said: 'I will make an order for one third of the amount paid into court to be paid out to the applicants. But the applicants are to file an affidavit in support of the application before the amount is paid out to them. Further consideration of the issues involved in this application will be adjourned to 24/7/78. By this time the survey should have been completed and the actual amount of compensation to be paid for the area acquired less the area edged yellow shall have been worked out and the parties interested in the remaining area acquired shall have been known too.'This is an appeal from the ruling and order given by the Court of Appeal at Enugu on September 20, 1982, by which the appellant a legal practitioner - was sentenced to six months Imprisonment for being found guilty of committing contempt of court.He was the ninth Chief Justice of Nigeria and the number eight indigenous Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1995 until 2006. Uwais is the son of the Chief Alkali, and later Waziri of Zaria emirate.Born June 12, 1936 in Zaria, Kaduna State, he married Hajiya Saratu Ahmed in 1960 and Hajiya Maryama Isa Wali in 1988. He began his primary education at the Tudun Wasa Elementary School, Zaria between 1946 and 1949. He later enrolled at the Zaria Middle School, Zaria between 1950 and 1951 and later attended Barewa College, Zaria between 1952 and 1957. He was also a student at the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, between 1960 and 1961. On leaving the ABU in 1961, he immediately enrolled at the School for Oriental and African Studies, University of London and completed his programme in 1962. At the same time, he was a student of Gibson and Weldon College of Law, London. From 1961 to 63, he was in Inns of Court School of Law, Council of Legal Education, London. He did his post-Bar final course, Council of Legal Education, London in 1963. He later attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1963.It is worthy to note that while Uwais was schooling, he also had the opportunity of laying his hands on some jobs. He was the accounts clerk in Nigerian Tobacco Company Limited, Zaria between 1957 and 1958; assistant publicity officer, ministry of information of Northern Region of Nigeria, 1959 to 1964.From 1964 to 1966, he was the pupil state counsel, Ministry of Justice, Northern Region of Nigeria as well as the state counsel between 1966 and 1969. In 1969, he was promoted to a senior state counsel and remained in that position until 1971 when he became the principal secretary, North-Central State of Nigeria until 1973. Uwais later became acting High Court Judge, North-Central and North-Eastern States of Nigeria in 1974 and remained in that position till 1976 when he became the acting Chief Justice of Kaduna State.A year later, he was appointed as Justice, Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Appeal of Nigeria. He was in that position until 1979 when he was elevated to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The eminent jurist was in the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1979 till 1995 when he became the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria and was later that year confirmed a substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.While in the office as a jurist, Justice Uwais was also active outside the Bench, playing vital roles in related endeavours. Besides, he also chaired several commissions and national bodies. He was the chairman, Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Awards of contracts by the Military Government of North-Central State, 1976; Chairman, Jimeta disturbances Tribunal, defunct Gongola State, 1984 as well as a member, Council of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1987 ' 1994.He has been a member of the Nigerian Body of Benchers since 1979 and held different positions within the group. He was the Vice-chairman, Nigerian Body of Benchers between 1992 and 1993, and Commonwealth member, Presidential Commission of Inquiry, Sri Lanka in 1993. From 1995 he became the chairman, Nigerian Body of Benchers. Member, Board of Governors, National Judicial Institute of Nigeria, 1991 ' 1995.Uwais is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies since 1997. In 1980, he was conferred with the national honours of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). He enjoys swimming, walking and billards.
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