From Paul Orude Bauchi
Justice Habibu Idris Shall, a retired High Court Judge, from Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, has been appointed as a member of Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) to represent Africa.
The appointment letter was presented to Justice Shall by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Maitama Tuggar, who nominated the retired judge.
Shall at a Press Briefing held at the Ambassador Tuggar Foundation in Bauchi on Friday, thanked the minister facilitating the appointment based on merit , describing Ambassador Tuggar as a God fearing leader.
“He is a just and God fearing person and I call upon all our leaders to emulate him,” the retired judge said.
“It is only a just and God fearing person who will have an opportunity of picking somebody and did not start looking at that person from another perspective of the person coming from the same place he comes
“He came to my own place in Bauchi South and picked me. Honestly Tuggar is God fearing. If we have such a type of leader Nigeria will not be where it is now. We pray for his success.
“I was on a trip to my farm when I was called and asked to submit my CV. To my shock, just some days back I saw an appointment letter that reinforced my mind that we have God-fearing leaders who can do something without thinking of where they come from.
“I remain grateful to the minister who facilitated this appointment and am also grateful to his foundation who also saw that I was deemed fit to be given this assignment.
“I have never met the minister in my life, I have never met the Director General of the Tuggar Foundation but they saw that I was fit and naturally it came to me”
The Director General of the Tuggar Foundation, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Tukura, described the appointment given to Shall as huge
“Justice Shall, one of the sons of Bauchi State, was appointed as a member of the Commonwealth Tribunal representing Africa,” he said.
“We didn’t have that appointment until Ambassador Tuggar was appointed as minister.
“Shall is a competent retired justice. He is good at administration of justice. He is qualified and he emerged when his CV was sent out of three others submitted and if you look at his CV he is well qualified
“I will advise him to be careful and continue to demonstrate his honesty at the international stage”
The Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal is composed of eight members, all of whom are nationals of different Commonwealth member States and which normally meets at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters at Marlborough House in London.
Justice Shall was Chairman of the panel Justice set up by Governor Bala Mohammed to investigate human rights abuses by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 2020.