Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria | |
---|---|
Supreme Court of Nigeria | |
Style | Mr. Chief Justice (informal) Your Honor (within court) The Honorable (formal) |
Status | Chief justice |
Member of | Federal judiciary National Judicial Council |
Seat | Supreme Court Building, Three Arms Zone, Abuja, FCT |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Term length | Resignation Death Attainment of age 70 |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Nigeria |
Formation | 1914 1 October 1963 Supreme Court of Nigeria |
First holder | Sir Edwin Speed (colonial) Sir Adetokunbo Ademola (Indigenous) |
Website | http://www.supremecourt.gov.ng/ |
The chief justice of Nigeria or CJN is the head of the judicial arm of the government of Nigeria, and presides over the country's Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. [1] The current chief justice is Olukayode Ariwoola who was appointed on 27 June 2022. [2] He was appointed acting chief justice of the Federation upon the resignation of incumbent chief justice Tanko Muhammad, he was confirmed chief justice by the Nigerian Senate on 21 September 2022. The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the highest court in Nigeria and its decisions are final. [3] The chief justice of Nigeria is nominated by the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria upon recommendation by the National Judicial Council and is subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. [4] The CJN holds office at the pleasure of the Nigerian constitution and can only be removed from office by death or on attainment of age 70 whichever occurs first or by impeachment by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which requires a super majority of the members of the Nigerian Senate. [5]
The following is a complete list of chief justices. [6]
Chief Justice | Term |
---|---|
Sir Edwin Speed | 1914–1918 |
Sir Ralph Combe | 1918–1929 |
Donald Kingdon | 1929–1946 |
Sir John Verity | 1946–1954 |
Sir Stafford Foster-Sutton | 1955–1958 |
Sir Adetokunbo Ademola | 1958–1972 |
Taslim Olawale Elias | 1972–1975 |
Darnley Arthur Alexander | 1975–1979 |
Atanda Fatai Williams | 1979–1983 |
George Sodeinde Sowemimo | 1983–1985 |
Ayo Gabriel Irikefe | 1985–1987 |
Mohammed Bello | 1987–1995 |
Mohammed Uwais | 1995–2006 |
Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore | 2006–2007 |
Idris Legbo Kutigi | 2007–2009 |
A. I. Katsina-Alu | 2009–2011 |
Dahiru Musdapher | 2011–2012 |
Aloma Mariam Mukhtar [7] [8] | 2012–2014 |
Mahmud Mohammed | 2014–2016 |
Walter Onnoghen | 2017–2019 |
Tanko Muhammad | 2019–2022 |
Olukayode Ariwoola | 2022–present |
The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior Courts" as Congress saw fit to establish. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, leaving this to Congress to decide.
The chief justice of Pakistan is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistani judiciary. The officeholder is the senior most of 17 justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court.
Mohammed Bello was a Nigerian Jurist who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1987 to 1995.
Idris Legbo Kutigi was a Nigerian lawyer and jurist. He was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State before becoming a high court judge. He joined the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1992 and served as Chief Justice from 30 January 2007 to 30 December 2009.
Walter Irving McCoy was a United States representative from New Jersey and later was an Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
The nomination and confirmation of justices to the Supreme Court of the United States involves several steps, the framework for which is set forth in the United States Constitution. Specifically, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, provides that the president of the United States nominates a justice and that the United States Senate provides advice and consent before the person is formally appointed to the Court. It also empowers a president to temporarily, under certain circumstances, fill a Supreme Court vacancy by means of a recess appointment. The Constitution does not set any qualifications for service as a justice, thus the president may nominate any individual to serve on the Court.
Aloma Mariam Mukhtar is a Nigerian jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria from July 2012 to November 2014. She was called to the English Bar in November, 1966 and to the Nigerian Bar in 1967.
Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen is a Nigerian jurist who served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 2017 to 2019. Before joining the Supreme Court, he was a judge in Cross River State and a justice of the Court of Appeal.
The Federal Court of Appeal of Nigeria is the intermediate Appellate Court of the Nigerian federal court system. The Court of Appeal of Nigeria decides appeals from the district courts within the federal judicial system, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies. As at 2010, there are 66 judges of the Nigerian courts of appeals authorized by the Senate. These judges are recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC), nominated by the President of Nigeria and confirmed by the Senate. There are currently seventy-two Nigerian courts of appeals across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. There are 12 in the North-Central, 10 in North-East, 10 in North-West, 10 in South-South, 9 in South-East and 11 in South Western Nigeria. The headquarter is located at Three Arms Zone, Abuja.
Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko is a Nigerian jurist, who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 2006 to 2022 and as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 2019 until his resignation in June 2022 citing ill-health as the reason for his decision. He was formerly a Justice of the Nigerian Courts of Appeal.
Olukayode Ariwoola is a Nigerian jurist and justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria who serves as the chief justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was formerly a justice of the Nigerian courts of appeal and on 22 November 2011, he was appointed to the bench of the supreme court of Nigeria. He was appointed substantive chief justice of Nigeria on 27 June 2022 following the resignation of incumbent chief justice Tanko Muhammad and formally confirmed chief justice by the Nigerian Senate on 21 September 2022.
Musa Dattijo Muhammad is a Nigerian jurist and former Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria are members of the Supreme Court of Nigeria composed of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other justices not more than 21 including the chief justice, appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, (NJC) and subject to confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court must be qualified to practice law in Nigeria, and must have been so qualified for a period not less than fifteen years. Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria have a mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
Monica Bolna'an Dongban-Mensem is a Nigerian judge. She is the President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria. Her appointment was confirmed on Thursday, 11 June 2020.
The Federal High Court of Nigeria (FHC) is one the Federal superior Courts of record in Nigeria. It has coordinate jurisdiction with the High Courts of the States of the Federation, including FCT and is located in Shehu Shagari Way, Central District Abuja.