Linus Oota , Lafia
Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura and the Council of Chiefs in Nasarawa State have approved the selection of a serving Supreme Court judge, Justice Sidi Dauda Bage, as the new Emir of Lafia.
The late emir, Dr. Isa Mustapha, Agwai 1, died on January 10.
Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Haruna Osegba, announced the selection, in Government House, Lafia, the state capital, yesterday, after a closed-door meeting between the governor and the chiefs.
Osegba said out of the five kingmakers, Bage, who is from the Dalla Dunama Ruling House, got four votes while the son of the late emir, Musa Isa Mustapha Agwai, who is from the Ari Dunama Ruling House, got only one vote.
Justice Bage was born on June 22, 1956, in Lafia. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1977-1980, where he graduated with a Second Class (Lower Division) in Law, and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School Lagos, in 1980. He was called to the Bar in 1981.
He rose through the ranks in the Judiciary and became a justice of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the governor has approved the selection of Isa Abubakar Umar as the Emir of Awe.
A First Class chief, he succeeded his father who died early this year. Al-Makura approved the selection of Osu Kadoko of Kardoroko, Umar Usman Dodo.