How Murtala sacked, compensated Chief Justice Taslim Elias in 1975
Two months after his removal, the United Nations elected Taslim Elias to the International Court of Justice in October 1975
A review of old U.S. diplomatic cables by PREMIUM TIMES has shed fresh light on the circumstances under which Justice Taslim Elias was controversially sacked as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in August 1975 and how the military government made amends by promoting his election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague two months later.
Until the suspension of Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Elias was the only CJN removed from office.
Other former holders of the office left upon their attainment of the retirement age, which now stands at 70 years.
Mr Elias was sacked by General Murtala Muhammed, the Nigerian Army major-general who became Head of State after the July 29, 1975 coup. The putsch ended the nine-year military government of General Yakubu Gowon.
Following the coup, the new military regime launched a ferocious purge of the public service. The exercise was so massive that the American embassy in its cable of August 22, 1975 to Washington described it as being of “avalanche proportion.”
Caught in the sweep were senior armed forces officers, including all military officers from the rank of major-general and above, and 94 senior police officers; hundreds of senior federal and state civil servants, nine career ambassadors and some judicial officers.
But the name that surprised Nigerians and outside observers most on the list of those sacked or forced to retire was that of Mr Elias.
One of Africa’s greatest jurists, he had been appointed CJN only three years earlier in 1972.
Before the appointment, he was the Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner of Justice. He was first appointed Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in 1960 and served in the capacity through the whole of the First Republic.
After the first Nigerian coup d’état in January 1966, the short-lived military government of Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi removed him from the position. However, he was reinstated in November of that year after Mr Gowon became Head of State.
Earlier in 1966 after his sack by Mr Aguiyi-Ironsi, the University of Lagos appointed Mr Elias as a professor and dean of its Faculty of Law. When Mr Gowon reinstated him as Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner for Justice, the jurist combined the position with his chair at the University of Lagos.
When the military government announced his removal on August 20, 1975, it cited his health as reason for the action. To show he retains its regards, the government issued a statement praising his contributions to the nation and profession of jurisprudence.
However, when the American Charge d’affaires called on Mr Elias at his residence on August 27 “to express regret at his retirement”, the jurists told him that health had nothing to do with his removal.
But the name that surprised Nigerians and outside observers most on the list of those sacked or forced to retire was that of Mr Elias.
One of Africa’s greatest jurists, he had been appointed CJN only three years earlier in 1972.
Before the appointment, he was the Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner of Justice. He was first appointed Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in 1960 and served in the capacity through the whole of the First Republic.
After the first Nigerian coup d’état in January 1966, the short-lived military government of Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi removed him from the position. However, he was reinstated in November of that year after Mr Gowon became Head of State.
Earlier in 1966 after his sack by Mr Aguiyi-Ironsi, the University of Lagos appointed Mr Elias as a professor and dean of its Faculty of Law. When Mr Gowon reinstated him as Attorney-General and Federal Commissioner for Justice, the jurist combined the position with his chair at the University of Lagos.
When the military government announced his removal on August 20, 1975, it cited his health as reason for the action. To show he retains its regards, the government issued a statement praising his contributions to the nation and profession of jurisprudence.
However, when the American Charge d’affaires called on Mr Elias at his residence on August 27 “to express regret at his retirement”, the jurists told him that health had nothing to do with his removal.
