Following a three-day work visit in France, President Bola Tinubu has returned to Nigeria. At 2:25 a.m. on Friday, the President’s Airbus A330 arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. The PUNCH discovered. In order to swear in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria at the State House’s Council Chambers, the president had to shorten his trip. On Monday, Tinubu left Abuja for what the presidency called a “brief work stay” in France.
The President will return to the country following his brief work trip in France, according to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, albeit it did not specify the purpose or length of the travel. In a statement he signed on Thursday, Ngelale disclosed that the president “will swear in Justice Ariwoola’s successor at the State House Council Chambers on August 23, 2024,” expressing Tinubu’s gratitude to the departing Chief Justice of the Nigeria, Justice OluKayode Ariwoola. In the meanwhile, following its 106th sitting, the National Judicial Council proposed Kekere-Ekun to the president as Ariwoola’s replacement on August 15.
The NJC announced its decision by saying, “Judge Olukayode Ariwoola, who is stepping down today, presided over the 106th meeting of the NJC, which recommended Justice Kekere-Ekun to President Bola Tinubu and for appointment as the CJN.” The most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Kekere-Ekun, will take the oath of office as acting Chief Justice while the Senate confirms her. She takes the position from Ariwoola, who took office on June 27, 2022, and left on Thursday after reaching the statutory retirement age of 70. Kekere-Ekun, who is 66 years old, is anticipated to work until her retirement in 2028. Tinubu praised Ariwoola for his services to the country and called his more than three-decade tenure a “successful public service career” in his greeting to the retired CJN.
Before being appointed to the Supreme Court in 2011, Ariwoola served the country in a variety of roles as a Justice of the Court of Appeal in the divisions of Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos. He took the oath of office as Chief Justice of the Nation in 2022. At eleven a.m. on Friday, Kekere-Ekun, his successor, will take the oath of office.