President Bola Tinubu will on Friday at the State House Council Chambers swear in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), following the statutory retirement of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola as CJN.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) learnt President Tinubu, who travelled to France on Monday for a brief working visit, is expected back in the country for the swearing in of Justice Kekere-Ekun as substantive CJN.
It was gathered that the President will depart Nice, France around 9 pm on Thursday and arrive in the country via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 12:49 am to swear in Kekere-Ekun.
Kekere-Ekun rose to the position of CJN following the statutory retirement of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who was sworn in as CJN in 2022. Justice Ariwoola attained the mandatory retirement age on Thursday.
President Tinubu, has meanwhile, commended Ariwoola for his services to the nation, noting “his impactful leadership of the judiciary and his efforts in enriching Nigerian jurisprudence, as well as in strengthening the fibre of the law”.
Recall that the National Judicial Council (NJC) at its 106th meeting had recommended Justice Kekere-Ekun to President Tinubu for appointment as CJN. Kekere-Ekun is expected to take over the leadership of the Nigeria’s judiciary in substantive capacity after her swearing in.
TNG reports Justice Kekere-Ekun, born in 1958, joined the Supreme Court in July 2013. She was a judge of the High Court of Lagos State before her promotion to the Appeal Court in 2004. Kekere-Ekun was called to the Bar in 1981 and appointed an Appeal Court judge in 2004.
Justice Kekere-Ekun would be sworn in as the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria. She will be the second woman to be CJN after Justice Aloma Mukhtar, who was sworn in as the first woman CJN on July 16th, 2012. Kekere-Ekun is due for retirement in 2028 when she will attain the 70-year mark.