- Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has emerged as the second female Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)
- She was officially called to the Nigerian Bar on July 10, 1981
- TheRadar compiled 12 facts about the newly sworn-in acting CJN
Following the mandatory retirement of Olukayode Ariwoola, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), at age 70, President Bola Tinubu swore in Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun on Friday, August 23 as the acting CJN, awaiting Senate confirmation
TheRadar compiled 12 facts you should know about the acting CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun:
Educational background
1. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun commenced her secondary education at Queen’s College, Lagos in 1970.
2. She received her LL.B from the University of Lagos in 1980, having commenced her studies there in 1977, and completed her LL.M at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in November 1983.
3. She was officially called to the Nigerian Bar on July 10, 1981, after her compulsory one-year National Youth Service at the Ministry of Justice in Benin City, Edo State.
Professional experience, historic appointments
4. Justice Kekere-Ekun started her career in private practice between 1985 and 1989, and in December 1989, she was appointed as a Senior Magistrate Grade II in the Lagos State Judiciary.
5. Appointed to the High Court of Lagos State on July 19, 1996, she served as Chairman of the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos, from November 1996 until May 1999.
6. On September 22, 2004, she was promoted to the Court of Appeal, where she worked in different divisions and led two of them in 2021 and 2022.
7. Justice Kekere-Ekun was promoted to the Supreme Court Bench on Monday, July 8, 2013, making her the fifth female justice in the court's history.
8. At 66, Justice Kekere-Ekun became the most senior member of the Supreme Court and the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
9. She is the second female Chief Justice of Nigeria, succeeding Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who served in the role from July 2012 to November 2014.
Family background
10. She was born on May 7, 1958, in London, United Kingdom, to Alhaji Senator H.A.B. Fasinro, OFR, and Mrs. Winifred Layiwola Ogundimu.
11. Her parents hailed from Lagos State, Nigeria, and she is the oldest among eleven siblings from both her mother and father.
12. Justice Kekere-Ekun married Mr. Akin Kekere-Ekun, OFR, in December 1983, and they have three children together.
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Distinguished economist, Dr Ngozi Okonjo, Iweala is renowned for her leadership in international finance and trade and continues to do Nigeria proud on the global stage, as she is the first female and first African to emerge as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.
When she clocked 70 on June 13, TheRadar compiled 20 things many people probably didn’t know about her.