PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has sworn in Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
Tinubu who returned to the country from France in the early hours of Friday, August 23, administered the oath of office on Kekere-Ekun at the Council Chamber of the State House.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the next CJN on Thursday, August 15, following the end of the tenure of former CJN, kayode Ariwoola.
The ICIR reported that Ariwoola retired on Thursday, August 22, after clocking 70 years.
After Ariwoola, Kekere-Ekun is the Supreme Court’s oldest senior justice in terms of judicial ranking.
Kekere-Ekun, 66, is the second female CJN in Nigeria. She comes after Maryam Aloma Mukhtar. She will operate in an acting capacity until her confirmation by the Senate.
Kekere-Ekun was elevated to the Supreme Court of Nigeria as the 5th female Justice of the Court and was sworn in July 2013.
Born on May 7, 1958, Kekere-Ekun has spent 11 years on the bench of the apex court.
She graduated with an LL. B. from the University of Lagos in 1980 and an LL.M. in November 1983 from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on July 10, 1981.
Kekere-Ekun was named a judge of the Lagos State High Court on July 19, 1996. From November 1996 to May 1999, she presided over the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal in Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos.
She was promoted to the Court of Appeal on September 22, 2004, where she served in several Divisions before presiding over the appellate court’s Makurdi and Aku Divisions in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Kekere-Ekun’s recommendation as the CJN came a day after President Bola Tinubu signed into law a bill seeking a new salary structure for judicial officers, including the CJN.
The bill (now law) substantially increased the annual earnings of the CJN to N64 million, while the President of the Court of Appeal will earn N62.4 million.
The ICIR reports that the upward review of the salary of the judicial workers will also see the justices of the Supreme Court earning N61.4 million annually.
Beyond the CJN, the bill outlines salary adjustments for various tiers of the judiciary, with the justices of the Supreme Court earning a total package of N4.2 million, and the President of the Court of Appeal taking home a monthly package of N4.4 million.
A reporter with the ICIR
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