Murtala, a household name in the civil rights community in Kwara State, studied law at the University of Ilorin (2005-2010) and bagged his LLB from the Nigeria Law School in 2011. He also holds a diploma in Common and Islamic Law from the College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies.

A member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Murtala is a litigation lawyer reputed for his passion for civil rights cases — with at least 54 of such done pro bono (free).

He served on the Kwara State Transition Committee in 2019 and was the convener of Kwara Development Trackers and Secretary of the Ilorin Emirate Stakeholders Forum. He was until his appointment the Principal Partner at the Sambo Murtala & Co. (Activist Chambers).