The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has sworn in 11 new Justices of the Supreme Court, bringing the number of Justices on the apex court bench to 21.
With yesterday’s inauguration of 11 Justices to the Supreme Court bench, the apex court now has the full complement of 21 justices for the first time in history.
The swearing-in of the 11 Justices comes over two months after they were screened and confirmed by the Senate, acting on the recommendation of President Bola Tinubu.
Those who took their oath of office yesterday are Justice Haruna Tsammani; Justice Stephen Jonah Adah; Justice Jummai Sankey; Justice Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa; Justice Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Justice Moore Aseimo A. Adumein and Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya.
Others include Justice Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru; Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur; Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar and Justice Mohammed Baba Idris.
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola urged the new entrants to see themselves as representatives of God on earth and that they will give account of their stewardship to God one day.
He urged them only to be guided by the Construction and existing laws and not be blinded by self-interest or extraneous influences in their decisions.
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Justice Ariwoola told them that have been on the bench and criticised before, they should expect criticism and verbal assaults from losing parties in cases they preside over.
He expressed delight that the Supreme Court broke the jinx of attaining its full complement of 21 Justices under his watch.
“The only deity you can fear is the Almighty God. Once your judgment aligns with what God expects from you and follows the Constitution, you should consider yourself the happiest and freest person on earth.
“Aside from that, every other thing you hear around you is mere noise or baseless agitation, which will naturally pale into insignificance when the chips are down.
On the significance of the occasion, the CJN said: “This is, indeed, an epoch-making ceremony. I am very much exhilarated to, not only Witness it but also be privileged to administer the oath on these 11 eminent Supreme Court Justices.
“It is a memory I will cherish all my life because it is unprecedented in the annals of the Nigerian Supreme Court. Like I stated in my 2023/2024 legal year speech, precisely on Monday, the 27th day of December 2023, the inability of the court to meet up the statutory full complement of 21 Justices had lingered on for too long, thus appearing to be like a jinx.
“I thereafter made a categorical pledge that before I finish my tenure as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, I would, by the special grace of God, do everything within my ability to break that jinx and get on board the well-deserved full complement of the court.
“Today, as it were, it is apparent that all that is now history; a very palatable one at that for the Nigerian Judiciary and the country at large.”
