FEATURE: CJN Designate Kekere-Ekun: The Task Ahead
As the tenure of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN) Justice Olukayode Ariwooala comes to an end on August 22, the National Judicial Council on Friday, recommended Justice Kudirat Mourorayo Kekere-Ekun as his successor.
Justice Kere-ekun who is the most senior among the current 21 justices of the Supreme Court, is set to become just the second female to hold the position after Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who was CJN between July 2012 and November 2014.
The judiciary in recent years has been in the eye of the storm, with numerous calls for reforms which will see the judiciary act more independent and transparently in the discharge of its duties.
With the bill on welfare of judicial officers being signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the issue which remained a recurring topic at judicial events, has now been put to bed as it stipulates 300 per cent salary increment, for all judicial officers, the first time in decades.
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun comes with a lot of experience, at 66 she has served as a supreme Court judge for 11 years after her elevation on July 8, 2013.
She is also a life Bencher, a member of the International Association of Women Judges and its president.
With the office of the CJN being the highest judicial office in the land, it lies on the office holder to ensure the judiciary which has been embroiled in a crisis of lack of public confidence takes back its position as a reputable temple of justice.
There is now an urgent need to step forward in treating other issues which has plagued the judiciary, as it will go a long way to chart a path for restoration of the faith of the common man on the judiciary.
As CJN, Justice Kekere-Ekun will have to weather the storm on the issue of corruption in the sector, however, there are other areas of conflict she needs to address.
Conflicting Judgments
The issue of inconsistencies and conflicting judgements has become a source of ridicule for the judiciary with various courts of coordinate jurisdiction contradicting one another with rulings and judgements on same cases.
One of such cases is the conflicting interim injunctions on the Kano state emirates tussle between Aminu Ado Bayero and Muhammadu Sanusi II.
The matter saw Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court in Kano, Justice Amina Aliyu of the Kano State High Court and Justice S.A Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kano, all issuing conflicting ex parte orders on the enactment of the Kano State Emirate Council Law 2024, removing Bayero as Emir and replacing him with Sanusi.
The issue prompted CJN Ariwooala, on May 30, 2024, to summon the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Chief Judge of Kano State High Court, Justice Dije Aboki for an emergency meeting in his chambers, to discuss about the issue.
He said the Judiciary “has been treated to an unpalatable cocktail of misleading and conflicting judgments as well as frivolous interlocutory orders emanating from courts of coordinate jurisdictions, which have literally attempted to make a mockery of our judicial system and flagrantly desecrate the revered Temple of Justice.
“It is an embarrassment to the nation’s jurisprudence and we will never handle it with levity. Punitive measures must definitely be meted out to such erring Judges.
“We have already activated the process of reining-in such errant Judges with a view to making them face the consequences of their despicable and odious conduct,” he had stated.
Justice Kekere-Ekun needs to step in and ensure that there is a lasting solution to this, to save the sector from ridicule.
Controversial Judgements:
Over the years, there have been a lot of controversial Judgements which have brought into doubts, the integrity of the judiciary.
The incoming CJN, Justice Kekere-Ekun was caught up in one of such scenarios, having read the judgement that sacked former Governor of Imo state, Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, declaring Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress, winner of the 2019 governorship election in the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had on March 11, 2019, declared Ihedioha winner of the election, with a total of 273,404 votes to defeat his closest rival, Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance, AA, who polled 190,364 votes.
The duo was followed by candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Ifeanyi Ararume with 114,676 votes, while Uzodinma and Ihedi Ohakim of the Young Progressive Party came in 4th and 5th with 96,458 and 527 votes respectively.
The Imo State Governorship Election Tribunal led by Justice Justice Umar Dogondaji, dismissed all suits filed by Nwosu, Ararume and Uzodinma challenging the victory of Ihedioha at the poll. Their position was echoed by the Court of Appeal, Owerri which dismissed the suits by Split decision, with Justice Frederick Oho, the only member of the Panel with a contrary judgement on the case.
All was set for the Judgement of the Apex Court, which according to the expectation of many, should see the dismissal of all appeals against Ihedioha’s victory at the polls.
However, this was not the case, as Justice Kekere-Ekun delivering the unanimous decision of the seven-member panel of the apex court sacked Ihedioha and declared Uzodinma who came a distant fourth as winner of the election.
In the judgment, Justice Kekere-Ekun, said that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in the state.
According to her, with the results from the 388 polling units added, Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election.
However, issues were raised on why she did not provide the details of the votes scored by each of the candidates from the controversial 388 polling units, as it ascribed 213,695 votes to Uzodinma, giving Ihedioha 1,903 votes and not stating anything about the remaining 68 candidates.
