New Telegraph-Admin 
AKEEM NAFIU writes that lawyers have tasked Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun, the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), on the need to uphold the integrity, honour and all that it takes to have a credible judiciary as she assumes her leadership role in the third arm of government
Some senior lawyers have called on the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun to reignite the waning public confidence in the nation’s justice sector.
The lawyers while decrying the high level of rot in the third arm of government, tasked the new CJN to come up with reforms that will sanitize the system.
The lawyers while speaking on their expectations from the new CJN, at the weekend, said she should be committed to the task of rebuilding the nation’s judiciary.
It would be recalled that Justice Kudirat Kekere- Ekun was last Friday sworn-in as the Chief of Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in Acting capacity by President Bola Tinubu pending her confirmation by the Senate.
Kekere-Ekun emergence was sequel to the retirement of her predecessor, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, at the age of 70 years. The National Judicial Council (NJC) had earlier recommended Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun for the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
A statement signed by NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, indicated that the decision to allow Kekere-Ekun occupy the office was taken at the council’s meeting which was held on August 14 and 15, 2024.
The statement reads: “The National Judicial Council at its 106th meeting presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, held on August 14 and 15, 2024, recommended Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
“This is imperative as Justice Olukayode Ariwoola will formally bow out of office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria next week Thursday on 22nd August 2024”. Justice Kekere-Ekun who is the most senior Justice of the apex court after Ariwoola is also the fifth and youngest female to be appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
She is the second female CJN in the history of the country, after Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar. Justice Kekere-Ekun, who is 66 years old, was born in London, United Kingdom, on May 7, 1958. She went to Queen’s College, Lagos, in 1970.
The new CJN attended the University of Lagos between 1977 and 1980, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in law. She also attended the Nigerian Law School between 1980 and 1981 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1981.
From 1981 to 1982, she had her National Youth Service Corps at the Ministry of Justice, Benin City, Bendel State (now Edo State). Afterward, she proceeded to the London School of Economics and Political Science where she obtained a master’s degree in law in 1983.
Kekere-Ekun joined the Lagos State Judiciary as Senior Magistrate II and rose to the position of the State High Court Judge. She served as Chairman of Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja between November 1996 to May 1999. She was appointed to the Bench of the Court of Appeal in 2004.
At the Court of Appeal, she served in five different Divisions across the country. She was the pioneer Presiding Justice of the Makurdi Division of the Court of Appeal and also served as the Presiding Justice of the Akure Division of the Court of Appeal before her elevation to the Supreme Court on July 8, 2013.
In 2020, Kekere-Ekun was on the seven-member panel that sacked the then Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, and declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who came fourth in the 2019 governorship election results as the winner. The new CJN also belong to several professional associations and groups.
These includes; National Association of Women Judges, International Association of Women Judges, Body of Benchers – Life Bencher W.E.F. 8th February 2018, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Fellow), and International Dispute Resolution Institute (Fellow).
The new CJN must steadfastly work towards enhancing public trust and confidence in the judiciary
Kekere-Ekun speaks
In the meantime, the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has expressed her readiness to take the nation’s judiciary to a new height, while also vowing to restore the waning public confidence in the third arm of government.
In a chat with journalists after her swearing-in by President Tinubu, Kekere-Ekun said: “We will make sure that people have more confidence in the judiciary, and I believe that it is not a one-man job. We all have to be on board because we all see the areas that are in need of improvement.
“I believe that there will be maximum cooperation because we all want to see a better judiciary. A better judiciary is for the benefit of the entire nation. Whatever the shortcomings that we see today are, we are all members of the society.
So, if we want to see a better society, if we want to see improvement, let the improvement start with each and every one of us and our approach to justice.
“Let us all have faith in the system and then also be particular about the process of appointment, I know it is a source of a lot of concern; the issue of discipline on the Bench and at the Bar as well.
“All of these things are aspects that we will look into and I believe that by the grace of God, at the end of my tenure, we should be able to have a judiciary that we will all be proud of”.
Lawyers set agenda
Meanwhile, a cross-section of senior lawyers have been speaking on their expectations from the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
The lawyers said it cannot be business as usual under the new CJN. Speaking on his agenda for Justice Kekere-Ekun, a Professor of Law, Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), while congratulating the new CJN advised her not to do anything that would make Nigerians emotional, but make the principle of equity, fairness and justice her watchword.
Ojukwu also wants the CJN to device a means of reducing court’s intervention in election cases so that political leaders would be the true choices of the electorates and not the court. In his submissions, another Law Professor, Samuel Erugo (SAN), tasked the new CJN to reform the Supreme Court in such a way that it can review its own judgements especially when there is public outcry.
In his own comments, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), said: ,“I’m not particularly close to Justice Kekere-Ekun, but from my little experience, or knowledge of the way I see her, she is a disciplinarian.
She is disciplined in every respect. She has a very respectable husband and a very solid home. She is not frivolous in any way. She is apolitical. In other words, she is not a politician.
“She is free of political encumbrance or baggage. Because she is free of that political garbage, she is going to be very professional. I can assure you, she will be very professional.
She will be a disciplined Chief Justice of Nigeria and she will uphold the integrity and honour of the court and the judiciary as a whole.
Nobody should take her for granted at all. “My advice is that, My Lord, Hon Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun should please, within the court and outside the court, uphold the integrity, the honour and all that it takes to have a credible judiciary.”
Speaking on his expectations from Justice Kekere-Ekun, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State, Dr Kayode Ajulo (SAN), while congratulating the new CJN, said, “Justice Kudirat Motomori Kekere-Ekun is a highly respected jurist with over 30 years of experience in the Nigerian judiciary.
She is known for her legal acumen, fairness, forthrightness, and fortitude. “To steadfastly work towards enhancing public trust and confidence in the judiciary through unwavering transparency, unimpeachable accountability, and the most steadfast fairness in all judicial proceedings.
“To foster a spirit of collaborative synergy between the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive, thereby resolving any tensions and safeguarding the independence of the courts.
“To invest diligently in the capacity-building of judges and court staff, while leveraging technological innovations to improve efficiency and widen access to justice.
“Specifically, she should return the Supreme Court to its golden era, when Justices such as Anthony Aniagolu, Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, Andrews Otutu Obaseki, Augustine Nnamani, and others brought their intellectual versatility and philosophical clarity to bear in their respective judgments to uphold substantial justice.
“Our democratisation experiment will fail if the judiciary, a vital third arm of government, is compromised. Therefore, the judiciary must protect its independence and impartiality with utmost care. It should be insulated from partisan politics, and political office holders must refrain from interfering with the judiciary’s work”.
In his own agenda, the Executive Director of Tap Initiative, Martin Obono, observed that the National Judicial Council (NJC), which overseas the appointment of judges has of recent come under heavy criticism, especially with the outgoing CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, accused of appointing his family members and relatives, as well as children and relatives of former justices into the bench.
While alleging that the Council disregarded its guidelines over recent appointments, Obono claimed that, “there have been report of insider subversion of the applicable rules governing judicial appointments, such as the reported appointments in one instance of a candidate who scored zero in the NJC interview”.
He urged the new CJN, “to commit explicitly to a policy of restoring integrity and merit to judicial appointments”, stating that achieving this would entail the introduction of transparent processes of selection advertisement of judicial vacancies as well as in nomination of candidates, interview, short listing and final selection.
“I think the discipline of judicial officers should be paramount,” he stated, saying that, “For too long, we have witnessed the erosion of ethical standards within the judiciary.
It is time to put mechanisms in place that will address the rot and ensure that the judiciary remains a bastion of justice. “A transparent and accountable judiciary is essential for the proper functioning of our democracy.
Justice Kekere-Ekun has the experience and the moral fortitude to lead this charge”, Obono added. An Abuja-based lawyer, Bright Enado, congratulated the new CJN and urged her to reduce the number of cases getting to the Supreme Court through leave granted to appeal against concurrent findings of facts and mixed law and facts.
Enado said: “She should introduce very strict conditions for granting such leave to ensure that only cases of significant legal importance make it to the apex court. “The apex court should under her introduce costs on an indemnity basis to discourage frivolous appeals in the Supreme Court.
This will not only deter unnecessary litigation, but also streamline the court’s docket, allowing it to focus on matters of critical importance.” A senior lawyer, Timilehin Ojo, while setting his own agenda, tasked the new CJN to give serious consideration to a conference of stakeholders, purposely to reconcile the various conflicting decisions of appellate courts.
“Efforts should be made by the CJN to ensure the appointment of at least one member of the inner Bar and an academician directly to the apex court and the Court of Appeal. This will ensure a cross-fertilisation of ideas which will positively impact the decisions of our appellate courts”, he said.
Justice Kekere-Ekun must put mechanisms in place to address the rot in the justice sector
A Lagos-based lawyer, Stephen Ubimago while congratulating the new CJN, insisted that the greatest challenge before her is the restoration of confidence in the nation’s judicial structure.
For him, “The new CJN also has to ensure that Nigerians have confidence in her as a Justice of the Supreme Court and as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.” For Mary Pam, Justice KekereEkun, who is the second woman to occupy the office of the CJN, should restore the past glory of the judiciary.
“Over the years, all eyes have been on the judiciary because it has disappointed the people of Nigeria based on the judgements it had made, most especially during the 2023 election petitions. “I am hoping that my lordship will promote justice, she should give the public reasons to have confidence in the judiciary”, Pam said.
