President Muhammadu Buhari has conferred  the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on the immediate past Chief Justices of Nigeria (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.

The award is the second-highest national honour that can be bestowed on any Nigerian national.

The conferment took place on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja during sweaing-in of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, as Acting Chief Justice.

Speaking at the event, Buhari said the award was being conferred on the jurist for the good work he did while at the saddle as CJN.

Predident Buhari, who showered encomium at Tanko, said under his watch as CJN, the judiciary judiciously exercised its powers in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The brief ceremony was witnessed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and some Justices the of Supreme Court.

DIPLOMATIC DIARY had reported that Justice Muhammad resigned on Monday as CJN on health ground.

Born on 31 December 1953, Justice Tanko was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria on July 11, 2019.

He began his career in 1982, after being called to the bar in 1981. In 1989, he was appointed as Chief Magistrate of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until 1991 when he became a Judge at the Bauchi State Sharia Court of Appeal.

Justice Tanko served in that capacity for two years before being appointed to the bench of the Nigerian courts of appeal as Justice in 1993.

He held this position for thirteen years before he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006 but was sworn in on 7 January 2007.