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Chief George Sodeinde Sowemimo, GCON (8 November 1920 – 29 November 1997)
Chief George Sodeinde Sowemimo was a Nigerian jurist who served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1983 to 1985. Prior to becoming a Supreme Court judge, Sowemimo is especially remembered for presiding over the 1963 Treasonable Felony trial of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and 26 others (including Anthony Enahoro), not “Omisade and others.”
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Law Career
Sowemimo was born in Zaria on 8 November 1920 to Sofoluwe and Rebecca Sowemimo.
He attended Holy Trinity School, Kano, and later proceeded to C.M.S. Grammar School, Lagos. He worked briefly with the Nigerian Railway Corporation from 1941 to 1944.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Bristol in 1948 and trained at Middle Temple for one year before returning to Nigeria to set up his own law firm.
He was appointed a magistrate in 1951 and became a Chief Magistrate in 1956. In 1961, he was elevated to the position of judge of the High Court of Lagos. In 1972, he was appointed a justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court.
After several years of service in the Nigerian Judiciary, he was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1983 to succeed the late Justice Atanda Fatai Williams. Sowemimo retired in 1985, having attained the statutory retirement age of 65.
He delivered the verdict in the Treasonable Felony trial of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and twenty-six of his associates.
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