Newly Appointed FCT High Court CJ Becomes NJI’s Administrator

Alex Enumah

Barely a few weeks after he was appointed the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Salisu Garba has again been appointed as the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI).

Justice Garba took over from Justice Rosaline Bozimo (rtd), whose tenure as Administrator of the Institute came to an end on July 31, 2021.

A statement by Ahuraka Isah, the media aide to the Chief Justice of Nigeria ( CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, on Monday disclosed that Garba’s appointment was made by NJI’s Board of Governors, at its meeting held on July 15, 2021.

The Board is being chaired by the CJN.

“Justice Garba, who was until his new appointment, the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, has voluntarily retired to enable him resume at the Institute,” the statement said.

Garba was sworn in as the FCT Chief Judge on June 7, 2021 and would have been due to retire by October 10, this year when he would have attained the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.

Born on October 10, 1956, Justice Garba hails from Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State. He was called to bar in 1984 just as he completed his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1985.

Justice Garba, who went into legal practice for three years after NYSC programme, was appointed Magistrate in the FCT in 1989, served as the Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court until he was appointed a judge of the FCT High Court in 1998.

Justice M. A. Ope-Agbe, who was the Administrator of the NJI from April 2000 to April 2003, was appointed from the High Court Bench, just as the late Justice O. Olatawura and Justice A. O. Obaseki came from the Supreme Court to head the Institute from 1991 to 1995 and from 1995 to March 2000 respectively.

The appointment, which takes effect from August 1, 2021 is for three years, from the date of appointment.