Tinubu reportedly set to appoint 71-year-old as ICPC chairman

An emerging report has authoritatively confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is on the verge of appointing 71-year-old Abdu Aboki as the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

According to Premium Times, Aboki is a retired former Justice of the Supreme Court from Kano State, North-west Nigeria. 71-year-old Abdu Aboki is a retired Justice of the Supreme Court.

It was gathered that Aboki retired from legal practice in August 2022 after clocking the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Sources from the presidential villa revealed that President Tinubu had stipulated Aboki's name as a replacement for the current ICPC boss, Bolaji Owasanoye, whose five-year tenure remains about six months.

Tradition of former justices

The imminent appointment of Aboki will re-introduce the tradition of selecting a candidate from the head of the commission and from among relatively aged, retired jurists of the appellate courts.

Mustapha Akanbi, who voluntarily retired as the President of the Court of Appeal in 1999, was 68 when he was appointed the pioneer chairperson of the commission in 2000. He served out his five-year tenure in 2005.

He was succeeded by Emmanuel Ayoola, who retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court when he clocked 70 in October 2003. Mr Ayoola was appointed the commission chair in September 2005, about a month before his 72nd birthday.