Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun has officially been named the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, succeeding the retiring Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
As the second most senior justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Kekere-Ekun now becomes the second woman in Nigeria’s history to hold this prestigious position, following in the footsteps of Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who was CJN from 2012 to 2014.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the incumbent CJN who assumed office on June 27, 2022, will formally bow out on Thursday, August 22, after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
By judicial ranking, the 66-year-old female jurist is the most senior justice of the Supreme Court after Ariwoola.
Born on May 7, 1958, Justice Kekere-Ekun has spent 11 years on the bench of the apex court after her appointment as the fifth female Justice of the court in July 8, 2013.
She obtained her LL. B in 1980 from the University of Lagos and LL.M from the London School of Economics and Political Science in November 1983. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on 10th July, 1981.
From 1985 to 1989, she was in private practice and was later appointed a Senior Magistrate Grade II, Lagos State Judiciary in December 1989.
Justice Kekere-Ekun was appointed a judge of the High Court of Lagos State on July 19, 1996. She served as the chairman of the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos, from November 1996 to May 1999.
On September 22, 2004, she was elevated to the Court of Appeal on where she served in various Divisions and as the presiding justice of two Divisions of the appellate court (Makurdi and Aku) in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
She was elevated to the Supreme Court of Nigeria as the fifth female justice of the apex court and sworn in on Monday, July 8, 2013.
A life bencher and presiden of the International Association of Women Judges, Justice Kekere-Ekun has attended numerous courses and seminars within and outside Nigeria and received several merit awards.
