A former President of the Court of Appeal and pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Mustapha Akanbi, passed on in the early hours of Sunday.
He died in his hometown of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Aged 85, Justice. Akanbi was until his death a respected opinion moulder, anti-corruption crusader, and elder statesman.
Justice Akanbi served as head of the ICPC he between 2000 and 2005 during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. He was widely reputed to be firm and incorruptible.
Justice Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, was born on September 11, 1932, in Accra, Ghana, where he worked as an executive officer in the Ghana Civil Service.
Justice Akanbi earned a scholarship to study law at the Institute of Administration, now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, when he returned to Nigeria.
He subsequently pursued legal studies in the United Kingdom and was called to the English Bar in 1963.
A year later in January 1964, he was called to the Nigerian Bar. In 1968, he became a Senior State Counsel after he joined the Ministry of Justice.
After setting up private practice in Kano, he was appointed a judge of the Federal Revenue Court in 1974 and in January 1977 he was elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench. In 1992 he became President of the Nigerian Court of Appeal and retired in 1999.
A year into the administration of Former president Obasanjo, he appointed Justice Akanbi pioneer chairman of the then newly established Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
He subsequently retired in 2005 on completion of the first term of office and in 2006, he established the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have continued to pay tributes to the late jurist.
President Muhammadu Buhari described him as a man whose greatest asset in life was his enviable integrity and incorruptibility.
According to the president, Justice Akanbi will be long remembered for his enormous contributions in bringing credibility and respectability to the country’s judiciary.
President Buhari 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.”
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, in his condolence message on Sunday, described the death as “a personal loss.
Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, described the late Justice Akanbi as an indefatigable, honest and principled jurist who upheld the fine ethics of the judicial process till he breathed his last.
“I am sad that Baba (Akanbi) has left us. He was fearless, courageous and spoke truth to power during his lifetime,” he said.
“He was like a father to me. His death is a personal loss. Kwara State will miss him. Nigeria will miss him.”
The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, described the late elder statesman as a courageous judge who fought corruption to a standstill.
He said, “Justice Mustapha Akanbi was a courageous judge who used the bench to dispense justice without fear or favour and rose to be President of Court of Appeal.
“As chairman of ICPC, he fought corruption to a standstill for which we are grateful to him. His death is clearly an irredeemable loss to the country.”
Ali Ahmad, speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, said: “late Justice Mustapha Akanbi was a source of inspiration to every Muslim, the Bar, and the Bench.”
Ahmad, in a statement by his media aide Shuaib Abdulkadir, said the late judge was a big source of inspiration to baby lawyers in the legal profession and to a lot more people in community service.
“He was very religious. We can only pray Allah to forgive his shortcomings and grant him Al-janah Firdaos”, he said.
With Agency report