Onnoghen Appoints Hadizatu Mustapha Chief Registrar of Supreme Court

By Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has approved the appointment of Mrs. Hadizatu Uwani Mustapha, as the new Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court.

Mustapha will assume office on  July 1, 2017 to replace the current Chief Registrar, Mr. Ahmad Gambo Saleh, who would on the same day resume in his new position as the Secretary of the National Judicial Council (NJC). 

According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the CJN on Media, Awassam Bassey, the appointment was contained in a letter of appointment signed by the Secretary of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), Mrs. Bilkisu Bashir, and dated  May 31, 2017.

Bassey further disclosed that Mustapha emerged from a strong field of six applicants interviewed by the FJSC headed by its Chairman, Justice Onnoghen, on May 30, 2017.

Until her appointment, Mrs. Mustapha, was the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

She was born in Gwoza in Borno State on August 8, 1961 and holds a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree from the University of Maiduguri which she earned in 1984 before attending the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos, for her Barrister at Law (BL) programme in 1985.

“After her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in 1986, Mustapha joined the Borno State Ministry of Justice, Maiduguri, in 1987as State Counsel 11 before rising to State Counsel 1 (1990-1993); Senior State Counsel (1993-1996); Assistant Director (1996-1999), and Acting Director, Citizens Rights Department (1999-2000).

“Between 2000 and 2004, Mrs. Hadizatu Mustapha was the Chief Enterprise Officer of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPE), Abuja, where she was the Acting Secretary to three committees: Policy and Monitoring Committee, Transactions Marketing Committee, and Industrial Manufacturing Committee,” part of the statement read.

She was also said to have returned to the Borno State Ministry of Justice as the acting Director of Public Prosecution before joining the state government as Senior Special Assistant on Administration to the Governor in 2004 before her appointment as Director of Legal Services to the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission in 2007.

“After a four-year stint in the private sector, Mrs. Mustapha joined the Sharia Court of Appeal in the Federal Capital Territory in 2011 as the Deputy Chief Registrar, a position she maintained till her current appointment as the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” Bassey noted.