Based on hierarchy and barring any last-minute change, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun of the Supreme Court is set to emerge as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
She is expected to take over from the current occupant of the office, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who assumed office on June 27, 2022, and will formally retire from service on Thursday, August 22, 2024, after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
Naija News earlier reported that a valedictory service in honour of Ariwoola, has been fixed for August in honour of the retiring jurist.
Should Justice Kekere-Ekun take over as the new CJN as expected after Ariwoola’s retirement, she would become the second female justice in Nigeria to hold the exalted position after Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who was CJN between July 2012 and November 2014.
The 66-year-old Kekere-Ekun is the most senior justice of the Supreme Court after Ariwoola, and is favoured to clinch the position.
After 11 years at the Supreme Court,…