Tanko Ashang: Lawyers grieve the loss of the former Attorney General of Cross River

Many lawyers in Cross River State have bemoaned the death of the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Tanko Ashang, SAN.

He died yesterday morning in his Abuja home as he was preparing to go to work, according to professional colleagues.

Former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in the state, Mr. Paul Ebila, said his death came as a rude shock, even though it still seems like a joke.

I am yet to believe that a very good colleague with whom I had a robust relationship while he was Attorney General and I was Chairman of the NBA, is gone. It is the biggest blow I have received in recent times. The state has lost an asset.”

Similarly, fellow Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mba Ukweni, said he has been traumatized and devastated since the news was confirmed. “It is very sad news. The law community has been thrown into mourning. Court sessions were even disrupted when the news filtered in. He was a very brilliant lawyer.”

A notary public, Leonard Anyogo, said, “Until I spoke to another lawyer who was inconsolable, that’s when I knew Ashang was gone. It’s once again a reminder of how transient we all are.”

Mr Ashang served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Cross River between November 27, 2019, and May 29, 2023. Before that, he briefly served as Works Commissioner between March and May 2015.

Called to the bar in 1993, Ashang was listed at number 725 in the order of elevation of Senior Advocates