Posted by The Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Nigeria’s Chief Justice, will administer the oath of office to nine new Justices of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, September 20.
At the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Main Court auditorium, the new Appellate Court Justices will be sworn into office.
According to a statement released by Supreme Court Director of Press and Information Dr. Festus Akande on Sunday, the new Justices of the Court of Appeal will take their oath of office from the CJN at 11:00 a.m.
The three new Justices are Hannatu Azumi Laja-Balogun of Kaduna State, Binta Fatima Zubairu of Kaduna State, and Peter Chudi Obiora of Anambra State, all of whom were sworn in as High Court Judges on various dates between 1999 and 2005.
Justices Okon Efreti Abang of Akwa Ibom State was sworn in as a High Court Judge on June 22, 2009; Justice Asma’u Musa Mainoma of the Federal Capital Territory was sworn in on February 1, 2013; Justice Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu of Oyo State was sworn in on June 26, 2014; and Justice Jane Esienanwan Iyang of Cross River State was sworn in on February 12, 2015.
In addition, on February 12, 2015, Sokoto State’s Hadiza Rabiu Shagari was promoted to the High Court Bench, and on July 14, 2017, Borno State’s Paul Ahmed Bassi was appointed to the same position.
Meanwhile, on September 3, 2023, Justice Amina Adamu Augie will turn 70, prompting her forced retirement from the Supreme Court’s Bench on September 21, 2023.
The Court’s annual vacation, which ended on Friday, September 15, 2023, prevented the customary valedictory court session in her honor from taking place on September 3.
Amina Augie was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice on November 7, 2016. She earned her law degree from University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1977, earning a Second Class Upper Division, and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar the following year.
The departure of Justice Augie leaves the Supreme Court with 11 justices, rather than the 22 required by the Constitution.
Justices Olukayode Ariwoola (CJN), Musa Dattijo (Deputy CJN), Kudirat Motomori Kekere-Ekun (CJN), John Inyang Okoro (Deputy CJN), Uwani Abba Aji (Deputy CJN), Garba Lawal (Deputy CJN), and Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju (CJ) round up the bench at Nigeria’s highest court.
There’s also Adamu Jauro, Tijjani Abubakar, Emmanuela Akomaye Agim, and Ibrahim Saulawa.
On July 14, 2023, it was announced that Supreme Court Justice Centus Chima Nweze had passed away.