Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kudirat Kekere-Ekun is among dignitaries expected at the 2024 Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors Annual Public Lecture and grand finale of the centenary celebrations in honour of the late Justice Chike Idigbe of the Supreme Court, who founded the firm.

Former Chief Justice/President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Justice Dr Willy Mutunga, will chair the event.

Kwara State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq will lead other governors to the event.

Also expected are serving and retired Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, serving and retired judges of the High Courts and senior lawyers.

The event will be held on December 5, 2024, in Lekki, Lagos at the new PUNUKA head office complex, PAS World Centre, which will be opened the same day.

The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Olabisi Akinkugbe of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

The late Justice Idigbe was a distinguished Nigerian jurist who practised law all over West Africa from 1947 to 1961.

He served as a judge in the then Eastern Region of Nigeria High Court and Chief Justice of the Midwest Region, rising to the position of Justice of the Supreme Court.

He was born on August 12, 1923, in Kaduna.

He studied law at King’s College, University of Cambridge.

He was also one of the first four Nigerians to pass the Cambridge University Law examination with honours- the others being Dr. T.O. Elias (former Attorney General of the Federation and Chief Justice of Nigeria), Dr. G.B.A. Coker, and Gabriel Onyuike QC, SAN.

The first lawyer in the Asaba Division and the then Benin Province, he settled in Warri, where he established his law office PUNUKA Chambers in 1947 (named after his great-great-grandfather Obi Idigbe, who was married to one ‘Onye Punuka’) with the famous Sierra-Leonean lawyer Nelson Williams.

In 1961, he was appointed a Judge of the Eastern Nigeria High Court, and in 1964, he was elevated to the position of Justice of the Supreme Court.

From 1964-1967, he served concurrently as the Chief Justice of the newly created Mid-Western region before he ceased to be a Nigerian judge as a result of the Civil War.

In 1972, he joined Irving and Bonnar, the oldest law firm in Nigeria as a partner, and three years later in 1975, he was re-appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He shared the Supreme Court bench with notable Justices such as William Algernon Holwell Duffus, Edger Ignatius G. Unsworth, John Idowu Conrad Taylor, Vahe Robert Bairamian, Eugene O. Adeyinka Morgan, Louis Nwachukwu Mbanefo, Michael Oguejiofo Ajegbo, George Baptist A. Coker, Charles Dadi Onyeama, Ian Lewis, Atanda Fatai-Williams (CJN), Udo Udoma, Taslim Olawale Elias (CJN), George Sodeinde Sowemimo (CJN), Dan Ibekwe, Darnley Arthur R. Alexander (CJN), Mahman Nasir, Muhammed Bello (CJN), Charles Olusoji Madarikan, Andrew Otutu Obaseki, Anthony Nnaemezie Aniagolu, Buba Ardo, Kayode Eso, Augustine Nnamani, and Muhammadu Lawal Uwais (CJN).

During his tenure on the Bench, he delivered the lead judgements in several landmark cases amongst which are: Bucknor-Maclean & Anor vs Inlaks Limited, Shitta-Bey vs Federal Public Service Commission, Arase vs Arase, Balogun vs National Bank, Usoro vs Shell Petroleum Development Co., Atiti Gold vs Beatrice Osaseren, Mutual Aids Society vs Akerele amongst others.

He also served as chairman of the land use committee set up to review the land tenure system in Nigeria.

He was the recipient of two national honours: Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Niger (CON).

Justice Idigbe was also a traditional Chief (Olinzele) of Asaba and held the highly coveted title of Izoma of Asaba as a man of the people.

He was happily married and blessed with children, amongst whom are: Mr. Victor Idigbe (late), Mr. Jude Obioha Idigbe Esq, Ms. Uche Idigbe, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), Mr. Amaechi Felix Idigbe and Mr. Ifeanyi Paul Idigbe (late).

Justice Idigbe passed away on July 31, 1983, at the Cromwell Hospital in London, just a few days short of his 60th birthday and anticipated appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

He was a remarkable jurist and a trailblazer in his field, leaving a legacy that inspires generations of legal practitioners in Nigeria and beyond.