Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Muhammed Lawal Uwais is dead.
The former jurist born 12 June, 1936 died on Friday in Abuja at the age of 89.
Uwais served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1995 to 2006.
After retiring from the Supreme Court, Uwais chaired a panel on electoral reform that submitted a report on 11 December 2008 with recommendations that included establishing commissions to deal with Electoral Offences, Constituency Delimitation and Political Parties Registration and Regulation.
Some of the power vested in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the State Independent Electoral Commissions would be transferred to the new commissions.
The committee recommended proportional representation in elections to the Federal and State legislatures and to the local government councils.
The report also recommended that the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission should be appointed by the judiciary rather than the President. This recommendation was rejected by President Umaru Yar’Adua.