The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will swear in nine newly appointed Court of Appeal Justices on Wednesday, September 20.
The new appellate court justices will be installed at the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Main Court auditorium in Abuja.
According to Festus Akande, the Supreme Court‘s Director of Press and Information, the CJN would 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.
Meanwhile, Justice Amina Adamu Augie will formally retire from the Supreme Court Bench on Thursday, September 21, 2023, after reaching the required retirement age of 70 on Sunday, September 3, 2023.
According to the announcement, the regular valedictory court session in her honor, which was supposed to take place on September 3, was postponed owing to the Court’s annual vacation, which ended on Friday, September 15, 2023.
On November 7, 2016, Justice Augie was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice. She graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1977 with a Second Class Upper Division in Law and was admitted to the Nigerian bar in 1978.
With Justice Augie’s retirement, the Supreme Court now has 11 justices instead of the Constitutionally mandated 22.
