Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun is set to become Nigeria’s second female Chief Justice (CJN) following the impending retirement of the current CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola on August 2024.
Justice Kekere-Ekun, currently the second most senior justice of the Supreme Court, would become the second woman to hold this position in Nigeria’s history, succeeding Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who served as CJN from 2012 to 2014.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who became CJN on October 12, 2022, will vacate the office upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.The Supreme Court has already scheduled a valedictory court session in his honour.
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The Nigerian Judicial Council is expected to convene to recommend to the President as acting CJN pending the appointment of a substantive one.
According to Subsection 4 of Section 231 of the 1999 Constitution, the President is required to appoint the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court to act as CJN until a permanent appointment is confirmed.
The sub-section states that: “If the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office, or until the person holding has resumed those functions, the President shall appoint the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court to perform those functions.”
Sub-section 1 of the same section also provides that : “The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council subject to confirmation of such appointment by the Senate.”
Justice Kekere-Ekun is expected to serve a term of up to four years, compared to the average two-year tenure of her predecessors.
Who is Kudirat Kekere-Ekun
Born on May 7, 1958, 66-year old Justice Kekere-Ekun obtained her LL.B from the University of Lagos in 1980 and an LL.M from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1983.
She was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1981. After several years in private practice, she was appointed as a Senior Magistrate in Lagos State in 1989, and later as a High Court Judge in 1996. She served as the chairman of the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal in Lagos from 1996 to 1999.
She was levated to the Court of Appeal in 2004, and served in various divisions and was the presiding justice of the Makurdi and Aku Divisions. She was appointed to the Supreme Court in July 2013 as its fifth female justice.
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