The Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has given the assurance that the nation’s judiciary will soon overcome the hiccups facing it the smooth delivery of justice in the country.
Justice Kekere-Ekun, who gave the assurance on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at a valedictory court session in honour of the late Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Emmanuel Obioma Ogwuegbu, who died on October 28, 2024 at the age of 91, said that the leadership of the nation’s judiciary is working hard to make a change and correct the ills.
The CJN noted that the challenges facing the judicial sector include delays in justice delivery, dwindling public confidence and resource constraints under her watch are surmountable.
She noted that the late Justice Ogwuegbu’s life offers a blueprint for renewal, integrity, service, learning and courage, adding that the late Justice’s life enriched the Nigerian law with experience, compassion and wisdom.
The CJN also said that the contributions of late Justice Ogwuegbu will continue to illuminate the courts adding that his legacy remains embedded in the moral and legal consciousness of the nation.
In the words of Kekere-Ekun; “Throughout his illustrious judicial career, he brought to bear a rare combination of erudition, clarity and compassion. He was a jurist who wrote with precision, reasoned with rigour and adjudicated with fairness.
“As a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, His Lordship contributed significantly to the shaping of our modern legal landscape. His Lordship’s deep insight and fearless reasoning were particularly evident in cases that advanced constitutional governance, individual liberties and the devolution of powers,” she said.
The CJN also said that the late Justice Ogwuegbu was not just a judge, but a torchbearer of justice whose career spanned more than four decades of unwavering dedication to the bench.
She further said; “His Lordship’s life’s work was defined by a fierce loyalty to the Constitution, an abiding respect for the rule of law, and an unshakeable belief in the power of justice to uphold society’s most sacred values.
“Throughout his illustrious judicial career, he brought to bear a rare combination of erudition, clarity, and compassion. He was a jurist who wrote with precision, reasoned with rigour, and adjudicated with fairness.
“His judgments did not merely resolve disputes—they elevated our jurisprudence, speaking to the conscience of a nation and strengthening the pillars upon which our democracy rests.
“He was a Judge of great dignity, humility, and empathy—qualities that humanised the law and brought, comfort to those who sought justice. He listened intently, decided fairly, and treated all who came before him with respect and decency,” Justice Kekere-Ekun said.
In his own tribute, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, stressed the need for Judges to administer justice without fear or favour.
While paying tribute to the late Justice Ogwuegbu of the Supreme Court, Fagbemi charged Judicial officers to live up to expectation.
In his tribute at the Valedictory session, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, said a true measure of a judge is not in the length of tenure or the number of cases adjudicated, but in the debt of impact and integrity of decisions.
Osigwe noted that Justice Ogwuegbu was a judicial titan, who rendered Nigeria’s laws clearer, the institutions stronger and the nation’s democracy more stable.
In the words of Osigwe; “In an age where judicial courage is often tempered by politics or public pressure, His Lordship exemplified a rare independence of thought, tempered only by the boundaries of justice and the letter of the law”.
