The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is presently in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, for medicare.

This was disclosed by a member of the Supreme Court, Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, at the unveiling of the national headquarters of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria (MULAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to The Street Journal, Tanko could not preside at the swearing in  of 72 senior advocates of Nigeria, SAN, on Monday.

Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour represented him (Tanko) on the occasion.

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The absence of the 66-year-old CJN at the event prompted many to wonder if all was well with him especially amid rumours that he had been ill and hadn’t been seen in public in recent weeks.

The unavailability of the CJN was unusual as he is mostly known to carry out important functions such as administering oaths of office.

The CJN had inaugurated eight justices of the supreme court on November 6 but since then, there were conflicting details on when he was last seen in public.

Meanwhile, the special session for the swearing-in of SANs, which was held at the supreme court in Abuja, also marked the beginning of the 2020/2021 legal year of the apex court.

While representing the CJN, Rhodes-Vivour said, “The judiciary, like no other arm of government, had suffered a great deal of internal and external shocks in the course of the year.

“In the course of the year, we lost some of our colleagues in the bench and the bar.”