Honourable Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais on the 15th of August 1979, was called to the Supreme Court at the age of 45 and became the longest serving Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) from 1995 to 2006. In terms of length of tenure, he is next to Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, the first Nigerian CJN , who served as Chief Justice of Nigeria for 14 years (1958 to 1978). He is also the first alumnus from the Nigerian Law School to occupy that position.
During his tenure, he was able to convince Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1998 to appoint more Justices of the Supreme Court and in 2002, he endorsed the registration of new political parties from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Upon his retirement, Honourable Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais was called by Late President Umaru Yar’Adua to preside over the electoral reform panel.
As Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammadu Uwais was preceded by Justice Mohammed Bello who served between 1987 and 1995 and succeeded by Justice Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore who served between 2006 and 2007.