Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Richard Akinjide, is dead.

Akinjide passed on at the age of 88 in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

It was gathered that the legal icon died around 1am following complications in his protracted illness. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria had been sick for three years, according to family sources.

Akinjide was born in Ibadan in early 1930s to an influential family of warriors.

He attended Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife in Osun State and passed out with a distinction (Aggregate 6).

The legal luminary left for the United Kingdom in 1951 for further education and was called to the English Bar in 1955.

He was later called to the Nigerian Bar. Thereafter, he established Akinjide and Co., a legal firm.

He was a minister of education in the First Republic during the government of Tafawa Balewa; and Minister of Justice in the Second Republic during the administration of former President Shehu Shagari.

Akinjide was a member of the judicial systems sub-committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee of 1975-1977 and later joined National Party of Nigeria in 1978, where he became the legal adviser for the party.

Punch