President Muhammadu Buhari has mourned the demise of Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Sylvanus Adiewere Nsofor.
Nsofor, 85, died late Thursday in the US.
Buhari‘s condolences were conveyed in a Friday statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant, Malam Garba Shehu.
He was a retired justice of the Court of Appeal and assumed office as Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States on November 13, 2017.
The statement titled, “President Buhari mourns Ambassador Nsofor; calls him a man of rare courage,” said that the Buhari had spoken with the deceased’s widow, Jane on the telephone to commiserate with her and the family.
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Shehu’s statement noted that during the call, Buhari told the widow that her late husband was “an outstanding judge of rare courage and truth who is not afraid to give justice to whom justice is due.”
The President was further quoted to have directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with the late envoy’s family on the burial arrangements.
“Apparently referring to the 2003 presidential election during which Justice Nsofor delivered a minority judgment as a member of the election appeal panel in favour of Gen. Buhari as candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, the President said the country will miss people with such exemplary pedigree.
“President Buhari, who has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with Justice Nsofor’s family on the burial arrangements, prayed God to comfort all who mourn the departed jurist and grant his soul eternal rest,” the statement read in part.
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As Nigeria’s Ambassador to US, Nsofor succeeded Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, who also died towards the end of his tenure.
Born on March 17, 1935, in Oguta, Imo State, Nigeria, Nsofor graduated from London’s now-defunct Holborn College of Law in 1962.
He equally bagged an LL.M from the London School of Economics in 1964.
Nsofor began teaching at Holborn College of Law in 1964 and later went into private practice the following year.
He was appointed to the bench in Nigeria in 1977 and served as a judge of the Imo State High Court.
Nsofor was a justice on the Court of Appeal of Nigeria for 13 years until his mandatory retirement in 2005.