Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America Sylvanus Adiewere Nsofor has died at the age of 85.
Nsofor, a retired Court of Appeal justice, was appointed ambassador to US by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 13, 2017.
Nsofor was born March 17, 1935, in Oguta, Imo State, Soutj East Nigeria. He graduated from London’s now-defunct Holborn College of Law in 1962 and added an LL.M from the London School of Economics in 1964.
According to AllGov, Nsofor began teaching at Holborn College of Law in 1964 and went into private practice the following year.
In 1977, he was appointed to the bench in Nigeria and served as a judge of the Imo State High Court.
He spent the last 13 years of his career, until mandatory retirement in 2005, as a justice on the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.
In 2003, Nsofor was the dissenting vote in a three-justice panel in a contested presidential race between Muhammadu Buhari, then presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and then incumbent Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Nsofor wrote that the PDP had engaged in intimidation tactics and violence: “I find that the substantial non-compliance with the mandatory electoral law amounts to no election.
“I also find that there was violence perpetuated by President Obasanjo…May Nigeria never and never again see a black Saturday like April 19, 2003.”
However, Obasanjo was confirmed as president for a second term despite Nsofor’s objections. Twelve years later, however, Buhari was elected president of Nigeria.
When Nsofor was appointed as ambasador his confirmation hearing on March 1, 2017, didn’t go well. He refused to recite the national anthem when asked to by Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who was concerned with Nsofor’s age and fitness to serve.
When it was suggested that, at age 82, Nsofor might be too old to be an ambassador, he replied: “Go and ask Mugabe who is still working.”
When asked later if he was posted to France how he would deal with 39-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron, Nsofor said, “I will respect him despite his age.”
Nsofor’s nomination was denied.
However, President Buhari renominated Nsofor at the end of March and after a more subdued appearance before the senate, he was confirmed to be an ambassador on June 7.
Nsofor is married and has three children.
