Binta Nyako

Justice Binta Nyako is a judge of the Federal [High Court of Nigeria] from Katsina State. She is the current President of the International Association of Women Judges and has previously served as the President of the Nigeria's National Association of Women Judges. She served as the chief judge of Bauchi State from 2014 to 2017, becoming the first woman to hold this position in the state and the first woman to lead a high court bench in Nigeria.

Early life and education

Binta Nyako was born in the town of Remawa in the Katsina Province of Northern Nigeria.
Between 1972 and 1976, Nyako attended Queen's College in Lagos for her secondary school education. In 1980, she obtained her Law degree from Ahmadu Bello University, followed by graduation from the Nigerian Law School a year later, becoming Katsina's first ever female lawyer.

From 1983 to 1993, Nyako served as a State Counsel at the Ministry of Justice of Katsina State, eventually becoming the Solicitor General of the state in 1989. Between 1994 and 1996, she served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Katsina State. Since July 2000, she has served as a Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, becoming one of its longest serving judges. In 2014, she was appointed as the first female Chief Judge of Bauchi State, a position she held until 2017. This appointment also made her the first woman to lead a high court bench in Nigeria. In 2023, she was elected as the President of the International Association of Women Judges, becoming the association's first Muslim president.