M.M.A. Akanbi: Exit of an Incorruptible Judge

Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, pays tribute to Honourable Justice Muhammad Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, CFR, the 3rd President of the Court of Appeal, and Pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), who passed on on June 3rd, 2018, during the Holy Month of Ramadan. He left an impeccable legacy, of incorruptibility. May Almighty Allah, in His infinite mercy, grant him Al-Jannah Firdaus

On June 3rd, 2018 when the death of Hon. Justice Muhammad Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, the 3rd President of the Court of Appeal and the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) was announced to the world, almost everyone, particularly those in the Legal Profession were taken by surprise. The demise of this great jurist notwithstanding, the consensus among the people, is that Justice Akanbi was an incorruptible jurist. This was not surprising, as Justice Mustapha Akanbi was said to have once said publicly, that he never in his life took bribe to pervert the cause of justice, and challenged anyone with a contrary view, to come out to face him. The uprightness of this late jurist, must have earned him the position as the pioneer Chairman of the ICPC under the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo. There is a big lesson that must be learnt from this, by those presently on the Bench and those aspiring to go to there.

There is no doubt that, Justice Mustapha Akanbi has joined the rank of those jurists that have been certified and declared to be honest and incorruptible, both in life and in death, by those who have the credentials to do so.

Justice Akanbi: A Man of Integrity

Going down memory lane, in 1973 when Hon. Justice J.I.C. Taylor died on the Bench while serving as the Chief Justice of Lagos State, the then of Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon paying tribute to the late jurist said:“In an age when corruption, intrigues, backbiting and the love of office and power are fast becoming a virtue, Mr. Justice Taylor stood out from the crowd, with a detachment that has brought immense dignity to the High office of a Judge”. The tribute paid to the late Justice Akanbi by President Muhammadu Buhari, rang a bell of similarity when he said: “Being respected by the people for your honesty and patriotism, is the best legacy a man can leave behind. In a country where corruption is perceived as fashionable, Akanbi stood out as a remarkable man who put personal integrity and selflessness, before the desire for money outside his legitimate income. Great men like Akanbi, didn’t believe in joining evil because it was popular or supported by the majority.”

The history of Legal Profession in Nigeria, will not forget the likes of Justices Eso, Oputa and Bello (former CJN), among those great jurists who lived above board, while serving their fatherland on the Judicial Bench. The question now is that: what do we want to be remembered for, when we eventually give up the ghost?

The Beginning

Who was Hon. Justice Muhammed Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi? The late jurist, was a Nigerian but born in Ghana (known then as Gold Coast), to the family of Alhaji Mohammed Bello Oniyo and Hajia Nanah Aisat Akanbi Oniyo on 11th September, 1932.He attended African College Primary School and later Accra Royal Senior Primary between 1939 to 1949, for his primary education. Between 1950 and 1953, he attended Odorgonno Secondary School, Accra for his Senior Cambridge Certificate. He later returned to Nigeria and attended Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1960 and thereafter, proceeded to England with other students from the then Northern Region, where he was later called to the English Bar along with Hon. Justice M.L. Uwais, the 9th Chief Justice of Nigeria, late Hon. Justice Shehu Usman Mohammed, who was one time Chief Judge of Kaduna State, and later Justice of the Supreme Court, late Hon. Justice Umaru Maidama, Justice of the Court of Appeal, late Hon. Justice Anthony Aina Ekundayo, Judge of Kwara State High Court, and late Hon. Justice Adamu Minjibir of the High Court of Kano State.

Pressure to Read Law

The eventual entrance of Justice Akanbi into the legal profession, was like a man who later fell in love with the profession he earlier had no interest in. His father, who was a regular visitor to the court in Lagos to watch proceedings, developed much interest in the way things were being done, where the Bench was being presided over by the white men. Having being so fascinated with this, the old man wanted his son to study Law, which the son always dismissed with a wave of hand. According to the Justice Akanbi himself during his life time: “I stumbled onto Law. I didn’t want to read Law, because I had a very conservative view of Law. As a Muslim, I didn’t think it was worthwhile reading Law. I also did not want to read Medicine, because I don’t like to slaughter anything, even a fowl. I had wanted to read any of the Social Sciences, after which I could go to the University to lecture. But, my father wanted me to read Law, because he stayed in Lagos, during the time of the late Rotimi Williams’ father, who was a Lawyer and the father of the late Fani-Kayode, who was also a Lawyer. He used to go court to listen to cases. He said whenever they came to court, one white – man would come, knock the door, and they would all stand up and bow. So he wanted me to read Law, yet for many years, I resisted the pressure”.

Justice Akanbi’s Legal Career

When the young Akanbi later joined the Northern Civil Service, and subsequently went for a course where he came on top of the class, he was frankly advised and persuaded by two elder men, Pa Olajide and Pa George, that he should go and read Law. With the Scholarship Award from the then Northern Region Government, the young Akanbi never looked back as he later went to School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Gibson Weldon College of Law where he graduated 1962 and was later admitted to Middle Temple in 1963. In 1964, he joined the Northern Nigeria Ministry of Justice as Pupil counsel, from where in rose to the position of a Senior Counsel 1968. He left the Ministry in 1969, to establish his private law firm, then known as Akanbi Ibrahim & Co., where he was till 1974 when he was elevated to the Bench, as a Judge of Federal Revenue Court which later metamorphosed to the present day Federal High Court. On the establishment of the Court of Appeal, he was among the Judges that were elevated to that court where he eventually in 1992, became the 3rd President of the Court of Appeal and the first Justice from that particular court to preside over the Court of Appeal. His two predecessors in that office, late Hon. Justice Dan Ibekwe and Hon. Justice Mamman Nasir, were brought one after the other from the Supreme Court to the head the court, when it was established. He voluntarily retired as the President of the Court of Appeal in 1999.

The learned jurist made his impact felt, while adjudicating on the Bench, where he had immortalised himself through various judgements he delivered and are reported in our Law Reports. In the case of PHILIP EGBOKA v THE STATE (1986) C.A. 7 Part II, Pg. 55, where he presided at the Jos Division of the Court of Appeal and sat then with U. Abdullahi and W.R.T. Macaulay, JJCA, his Lordship in his contribution on the duty of counsel to the resolution of appeals without delay, particularly where the stay of proceeding in the lower court had been granted, His Lordship said: “I think, that is a very important and fundamental issue. And so, I too, like my learned brother Macaulay, J.C.A., will accommodate the applicant and order that the proceedings in the High Court be stayed, pending the determination of the appeal lodged in the matter. I however, hope that the applicant’s counsel will do all that is necessary to have the record of proceedings transmitted to this court, and ensure speedy hearing of the appeal. Indeed, it is the interest of all parties, that the issues be resolved without undue delay”.

Accolades

The services of the late jurist, particularly to the nation, were not without recognitions and awards, too numerous to mention. He was conferred with the Commander of Order of Federal Republic (CFR). A great jurist from Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, where I once wrote about elsewhere that: “If one says Kwara State is the pride of Legal Profession in Nigeria, factually one will not be exaggerating, because it was the State that produced the first Nigerian Lawyer from the whole of the Northern Nigeria in the person of Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Folorusho Abdulrazaq, SAN. The State has also produced two Presidents of the Court of Appeal, in persons of Hon. Justice Mustapha Akanbi and Hon. Justice Ayo lsa Salami. It produced Hon. Justice Mahmud Babatunde Belgore, now of blessed memory, who was the former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. Hon. Justice Timothy Oyeyipo, a former Chief Judge of Kwara State, was the longest serving Chief Judge in the Federation, having served in that capacity for over two decades. The 10th Chief Justice of Nigeria in person of Hon. Justice Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore is also from Ilorin. It is also worth knowing that, the incumbent Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, was serving as a Justice of the Court of Appeal, when he resigned to mount the royal throne”. No wonder that the Kwara State Government awarded Hon. Justice Akanbi, during his life time, the State's Award for Outstanding Performance against Corruption.

The fact that this great and upright jurist departed this world during the Holy Month of Ramadan, is a clear indication that Justice Mustapha Akanbi has already been accepted by his creator. While we pray Almighty Allah to accept him, bless his soul, and put him among His righteous servants in the Al-JannahFirdaus, we also pray Allah to give the Legal Profession in Nigeria and his immediate family, the fortitude to bear the great loss.Adieu Hon. Justice Mustapha Akanbi!

“THE DEMISE OF THIS GREAT JURIST NOTWITHSTANDING, THE CONSENSUS AMONG THE PEOPLE, WAS THAT JUSTICE AKANBI WAS AN INCORRUPTIBLE JURIST. THIS WAS NOT SURPRISING, AS JUSTICE MUSTAPHA AKANBI WAS SAID TO HAVE ONCE SAID PUBLICLY, THAT HE NEVER IN HIS LIFE TOOK BRIBE TO PERVERT THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE”