Justice Lawal Mani, Presiding Judge of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Kaduna Division, is dead, officials and family sources have confirmed.

He died at the age of 63 on Saturday night in Kaduna, after a protracted illness.

Justice Mani presided over the Nigeria Union if Teachers (NUT) petition that halted the then planned sack of 21,780 primary school teachers who failed a competency test organised by the Kaduna State Government in December 2017.

He also presided over the ongoing case of illegal impeachment of Kaduna State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Chairman, Garba Muhammad, against the union and three others.

Justice Mani has been buried in Kaduna, according to Islamic rites.

NICN President, Justice Babatunde Adeniran Adejumo, was among early mourners at Wurno road, the Kaduna residence of late Justice Mani. Justice Adejumo described late Justice Mani as a humble, honest and diligent judge. He prayed to Allah to grant him Aljanna Firdausi; his family, the NICN and Nigerians, the fortitude to bear the loss.

Late Justice Mani was born on July 1, 1955 at Bungudu, Bungudu LGA of Zamfara State, to the family of Mani Mohammed and Inno Matale Mohammed, both deceased. He was married with children.

He attended Bungudu Town Primary School from 1961 to 1967 for FSLC and Government Secondary School, Gusau, from 1968 to 1972 for WASC.

He was admitted into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1974 and graduated with B.Sc. Political Science in 1977. He obtained LL.B from the same institution in 1991 and was called to Bar in 1992.

Late Justice Mani bagged his LL.M from his Alma Mater in the year 2000. Justice Mani performed his NYSC primary assignment at Governor Office, Ilorin in 1977/78 service year. He started his working career as Administrative Officer II in 1979 with the University of Sokoto. He joined Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank (NACB), Kaduna as Deputy Manager Administration and in 1981 was its Zonal Legal Officer in 1994.

Between 1995 and 2001, he worked with Kaduna Textiles Limited as Personnel/Admin Manager. He joined the Federal Judicial Service Commission, Abuja in 2001 and has been its Director of Administration till his appointment as a Judge of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

Late Justice Mani attended courses related to his field of work in the United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore and USA. He was a member of several professional bodies.

He was the Presiding Justice at the Kano division of the NICN before his transfer to Kaduna in 2017.