In 1969, Sir Justice Udoma was fired by Milton Obote of Uganda under unclear circumstances. Some people said the action was unfair and politically-motivated.
Sir Udomo himself writes in his autobiography that his removal from office was engineered by his enemies, who lied to Obote he was planning with Obote’s enemies to overthrow the President.
After leaving Uganda in 1971, Udomo was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, where he served until he retired in 1982. He had also served as the chairman of the Constituent Assembly, which drafted the 1979 Nigerian Constitution. He chaired other various national panels of inquiry in his motherland.
However, in his autobiography, he expressed bitterness about how he was by-passed twice for the position of Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Udoma died on February 2, 1998, a few months shy of his 81st birthday. For his legacy, the headquarters of the Ibibo Tribal Union is named after him, among other things named after him in Nigeria.
In Uganda, the Makerere University Law Society organises an annual Udo Udoma Law Symposium, named after the eminent jurist in recognition of his contribution to the development of law in Uganda.
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