Some Amazing Things You Don't Know About The New CJN

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola was sworn in by president Mohammed Buhari as  the acting CJN on Monday, June 27, 2022, following the illness-related resignation of his predecessor, Justice Tanko Muhammad.

Barely three months later, the National Assembly screend and approved his confirmation as the Substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Here are the 10 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About New Acting CJN, Ariwoola

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola  was born on August 22, 1958 in Iseyin, Oyo State.

He attended Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole for his primary education between 1959 and 1967. He then proceeded to Muslim Modern School from 1968 to 1969 and later Ansar-Ud-Deen High School in Saki where he completed his secondary education.

In 1980, Ariwoola bagged his law degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). He was called to the Nigerian bar a year later.

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola  began his professional career as a legal officer in the Oyo State Ministry of Justice before he opted for private practice in 1988.

He was a counsel in-chambers of Ladosu Ladapo between 1988 and July 1989. He would go on establish his own legal firm named “Olukayode Ariwoola & Co”.

In 1992, he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Record in Oyo.

He served as Chairman of the Oyo State Armed Robbery Tribunal between May 1993 and September 1996.

In 2005, Ariwoola rose to the position of a Justice of the Court of Appeal after serving in the Oyo State High Court.

Six years later, in 2011, he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He is currently the highest ranking officer of the apex court.

The Nigerian Supreme Court nominated Mr. Ariwoola, who was born on August 22, 1958, as a Justice in 2011.

According to Mr. Ariwoola’s profile on the website of the Supreme Court, he was appointed a Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court in 2011.

The lawyer, who is from Iseyin in Oyo State, formerly held the position of Justice of the Court of Appeal from 2005 to 2011 before being appointed to the nation’s top bench.

 

He was a judge of the High Court of Oyo State from 1992 until his elevation to the Court of Appeal bench in 2011. He had previously worked as a private attorney.

Between 1959 through 1967, Mr. Ariwoola attended the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in the Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State where he began his schooling.

Between 1968 and 1969, he attended the Muslim Modern School in the same city before moving on to Ansar-Ud-Deen High School, Saki in Oyo North of Oyo State.

He received his bachelor of laws degree with honours in July 1980 from the University of Ife, which is now known as Obafemi Awolowo University, in Ile Ife, Osun State.

Soon after, he was admitted to the Nigerian bar and enrolled as a solicitor and advocate in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He worked as a Justice of the Court of Appeal in the Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos Divisions before being elevated to the Supreme Court.

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola will retire by 2028.