President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn in Justice Olukayade Ariwoola as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The development follows the sudden resignation of immediate past CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko on health grounds.
President Buhari administered the oath of office on Ariwoola at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja at a brief ceremony witnessed by some Justices of the Supreme Court who accompanied the acting CJN to the event.
Arriving in the company of fellow Supreme Court Justices in a white tinted coaster bus at about 2.45 pm, Ariwoola had headed straight for the Council Chambers.
Before the brief ceremony, the Justices in the acting CJN entourage were requested to undergo COVID-19 tests at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidentail Villa.
With his oath-taking, Justice Ariwoola becomes the third individual to head the nation’s judiciary in the life of President Buhari-led administration.
Justice Walter Onnoghen also became the CJN under the President Buhari administration before resigning from office in controversial circumstances in 2019.
Born on August 22, 1958, Justice Ariwoola was formerly a Justice of the Court of Appeal and was on November 22, 2011, elevated to the bench as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
At the ceremony, the President also conferred the second highest national honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on the former CJN, Muhammad.
