Thursday, June 5, 2025 was a sad day of in Nigeria and Zambia both countries lost their a legal practitioner of note, a politician cum academic and a former president respectively.
Nigeria lost its former chief justice, Mohammed Uwais and ex-minister of petroleum resources, Prof Jibrin Aminu while Zambia mourned the death of its former President Edgar Lungu.
Uwais
Uwais, 88, died on Thursday, according to a statement by the attorney general and commissioner for justice in Ondo State, Mr Kajode Ojulo.
Uwais served as the CJN from 1995 until his retirement in 2006.
He became justice of the apex court at 43 and was the second longest serving CJN in Nigeria’s history.
During his tenure as the CJN, he championed judicial reforms aimed at improving the administration of justice in Nigeria.
Following his retirement, he chaired the Presidential Electoral Reform Committee inaugurated by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
“Uwais was a true beacon of integrity, guiding the judiciary with grace and wisdom. His tenure as Chief Justice from 1995 to 2006 fundamentally transformed the landscape of our legal system, laying a foundation that continues to resonate today”.
“Justice Uwais was instrumental in our journey of democratic development and nation-building, serving not only as a jurist but as a visionary reformist of our electoral process.
“His leadership as Chairman of the Electoral Reform Committee, alongside esteemed members such as Bishop Mathew Kukah and Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, OON, SAN, exemplified his remarkable wisdom.
“The recommendations he presented not only established new standards but also instilled in our system a profound understanding of law and the responsibilities it entails.
“Among his most significant contributions was the call for the establishment of an independent electoral commission, a vital measure designed to enhance the integrity and transparency of Nigeria’s electoral process.
“Furthermore, his committee championed the integration of technology in elections, advocating for electronic voting and the transmission of results — initiatives aimed at reducing fraud and fostering public confidence in our electoral system,” Ajulo said.
In his condolence message, President Bola Tinubu described the late CJN as “a phenomenal jurist and statesman who served Nigeria with honour, courage and exceptional integrity.”
“Many remarkable highpoints hallmarked Justice Uwais’ illustrious career on the bench. He superintended the Judiciary at a challenging time in our history with tact, patience, and a sense of duty. This stabilising role helped usher in the current democratic dispensation, which he had the distinct honour of ushering in as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who swore in the elected president on May 29, 1999,” the president added.
Born on June 12, 1936 in Zaria, Kaduna State, Justice Uwais embarked on a remarkable journey in the legal profession.
He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, London, in 1963 and quickly earned a reputation for his commitment to justice and fairness.
Over the decades, he held numerous influential positions within and outside the judiciary.
Aminu
Aminu who was born on August 25, 1939, also died on Thursday, aged 86. A professor of cardiology and politician, Aminu, formerly known as Aminu Song, was Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2003 and served as the senator representing Adamawa Central senatorial district from 2003 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
As a senator, the deceased was appointed to committees on foreign affairs, education, air force and health.
He returned to national politics shortly after serving for eight years as representative of Adamawa central senatorial district.
Aminu studied medicine and obtained an M.B.B.S from the University of Ibadan in 1965, and a PhD in Medicine from the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School, London in 1972.
He was appointed a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science in 1972, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1980 and a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians also in 1980.
He was made a Distinguished Fellow of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College in 2004.
Aminu was a Consultant in Medicine, Senior Lecturer and Sub-Dean, Clinical Studies at the University of Ibadan Medical School (1973–1975), and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (1975–1979).
He was Visiting Professor of Medicine at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC (1979–1980) and vice-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, 1980–1985. He was also Professor of Medicine at the University of Maiduguri (1979–1995).
He held office as minister of education and then minister of petroleum and mineral resources (1989–1992).
While petroleum minister he was President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (1991) and chaired the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference between 1991 and 1992.
He was elected a delegate to the National Constitutional Conference (1994–1995).
He also served as minister of education and, subsequently, as minister of petroleum and mineral resources in 1989.
Lungu
Zambia’s former President Lungu died at the age of 68 on Thursday, according to his party, the Patriotic Front (PF), in a statement.
The party added that the former ruler had been receiving specialised treatment in South Africa for an undisclosed illness.
In a short video, Lungu’s daughter Tasila, also confirmed the death saying her father, who had been “under medical supervision in recent weeks”, died at a clinic in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
“In this moment of grief, we invoke the spirit of ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ – the timeless creed that guided President Lungu’s service to our country,” she added in an emotional statement.
She was, however, silent on what his condition was, but BBC reported that the late president had a decade ago undergone throat surgery abroad. At the time his office said he was suffering from a narrowing of the oesophagus.
Lungu was Zambia’s president for six years from 2015, losing the 2021 election to the current President Hakainde Hichilema by a large margin.
After that defeat he stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray. He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.
Even after being disqualified from running once more for the presidency, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.
In his condolence message, Hichilema called for “solemnity, unity and an outpouring of love and compassion.
“Let us come together as one people, above political affiliation or personal conviction, to honour the life of a man who once held the highest office in our land.”
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his condolence message that it was a “privilege in recent weeks to care for a leader from our region whom we embraced as a brother and friend. We therefore share the grief and loss experienced.”
Kenya’s President William Ruto described Lungu as a “progressive and outstanding leader who served the people of Zambia with zeal and commitment”.
Lungu won the 2015 presidential election with a 49% share of the vote
He first became president in January 2015 after winning a special presidential election triggered by the death in office of Michael Sata.
After completing Sata’s term, he won a further five years in power in 2016 taking just over 50% of the vote.
Lungu lost in 2021 by close to a million votes with Hichilema, seen as more pro-Western, tapping into widespread dissatisfaction among the electorate.
He said he was retiring in the aftermath of the vote, but returned to frontline politics in 2023 as his successor’s popularity waned.
“I am ready to fight from the front, not from the rear, in defence of democracy. Those who are ready for this fight, please come along with me, I am ready for anything,” Mr Lungu told supporters at the time.
Lungu was a lawyer by training but enjoyed a meteoric rise in politics after winning a seat in parliament as a PF MP in 2011.
He entered government as deputy minister in the vice-president’s office in that year and rose to become minister of home affairs in just over 12 months.
He later became minister of defence and then justice. A close friend described Lungu as a “good foot-soldier, lawyer and politician, father, husband and grandparent”.
Born on November 11, 1956, Lungu graduated with a law degree from the University of Zambia in 1981. He also underwent military training at the then Miltez Army College in Kabwe.
He later worked at Andre Masiye and Company Advocates, Barclays Bank and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines.
With agency reports
