Nigeria President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday inaugurated Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo as the new Chief Justice of the country.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) had last week recommended the appointment of Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo (popularly known as Kekere-Ekun) as CJN, following after the retirement of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola on Thursday, August 22.

Kekere-Ekun will hold the office in an acting capacity until her confirmation by the Senate, headed by Godswill Akpabio, who was among the dignitaries at the ceremony held at the State House, Abuja.

Other dignitaries present were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume; National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff to the President, and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. 

Kudirat Kekere-Ekun was born on May 7, 1958, in London, United Kingdom.

She studied at the University of Lagos where she obtained her first degree in law in 1980, and was called to the Nigerian Bar on 10 July 1981 after graduating from the Nigeria Law School.

By her inauguration on Friday she became the second female CJN, following in the footstep of Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhta, who became the first female CJN in July 2012 and served till November 2014.

Kekere-Ekun was a member of the seven-member panel that declared Senator Hope Uzodinma as the lawfully elected governor of Imo State, sacking then governor Emeka Ihedioha, who was declared winner by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC.

Ihedioha would later slam the ruling as “unfair and unjust.

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