CJN To Swear In Nine Appeal Court Justices September 20… 

The Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will on Wednesday, September 20, swear in nine newly appointed Justices of the Court of Appeal.

The new appellate court justices are to be inaugurated at the Main Court auditorium of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja.

A statement by the Supreme Court’s Director of Press and Information, Festus Akande, says that the CJN will swear them in by 11:00 a.m.

The new appellate court Justices are Hannatu Azumi Laja-Balogun from Kaduna State, who was appointed a High Court Judge on 24th May 1999; Binta Fatima Zubairu from Kaduna State, appointed a High Court Judge on 31st October 2001; and Peter Chudi Obiora from Anambra State, who was sworn-in as High Court Judge on 17th January 2005.

Others are Justices Okon Efreti Abang from Akwa Ibom State, who was appointed a High Court Judge on 22nd June 2009; Asma’u Musa Mainoma from the Federal Capital Territory appointed High Court Judge on 1st February 2013; Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu from Oyo State, who became High Court Judge on 26th June 2014; and Jane Esienanwan Iyang from Cross River State, who was sworn-in as High Court Judge on 12th February 2015.

The rest are Hadiza Rabiu Shagari from Sokoto State, who was elevated to the High Court Bench on 12th February 2015; and Paul Ahmed Bassi from Borno State, appointed to the High Court on 14th July 2017.

Meanwhile, Justice Amina Adamu Augie will formally retire from the Supreme Court’s Bench on Thursday, 21st September 2023, having attained the mandatory retirement age of 70 years on Sunday, 3rd September 2023.

The traditional valedictory court session in her honour which ought to have taken place on September 3 was delayed due to the annual vacation of the Court which ended on Friday, 15th September, 2023, according to the statement.

Justice Augie was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court on 7th November 2016. She graduated with a Second Class Upper Division in Law from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1977 and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1978.

With Justice Augie’s retirement, the Supreme Court is now left with 11 Justices as against the Constitutionally stipulated 22 Justices.