The National Judicial Council has recommended Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria.
The recommendation of Justice Kekere-Ekun followed the upcoming retirement of the incumbent, Justice Oluwakayode Ariwoola.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had in May, 2024, served the NJC a notice of his retirement and same was deliberated upon at its 105th meeting which held in Abuja.
He is due to bow out from the Supreme Court bench next week Thursday, August 22, 2024, upon attaining a retirement age of 70 years.
He became CJN on October 12, 2022.
But he took the oath of office as the acting CJN at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 27, 2022.
According to some legal pundits, Ariwoola J. is, arguably, one of the finest CJNs the country has produced with his policies and programmes for the judiciary.
However, like some of his predecessors, his tenure is fraught with controversies, especially as the judiciary under him came to be seen as being in the pockets of the political class.
In fact, retiring Supreme Court justices in his tenure used their valedictory speeches to lampoon the judiciary under his watch and so many Nigerians have lamented that the present judiciary dispenses judgment rather than justice.
His successor will definitely have a herculean task repairing the battered image of the judiciary in order to restore the confidence of the people in that arm of government.
BAR & BENCH WATCH reports that the Supreme Court has already scheduled a valedictory court session in his honour that will seamlessly usher in Justice Kekere-Ekun into office from August 22, 2024 in acting capacity pending when her appointment would be confirmed by the senate in accordance with section 231(4) of the 1999 Constitution.
She will become Nigeria’s second female CJN, the first being Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar who served between July 2012 and November 2014.
