And a new CJN cometh

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IF the reports circulating are correct, incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kayode Ariwoola, will be stepping down a month earlier than his due retirement date in August 2024, possibly to restore the tradition of terminal leave, cancelled by Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais in 2006, amid his poorly-concealed feud with his then-deputy, classmate, erstwhile friend and eventual successor, Alfa Belgore. Uwais remains the longest serving indigenous CJN in Nigeria’s history, spending 11 years on the seat and reports had it, that there was a gentleman agreement to gift his friend, then-number two, some six months of his long-running tenure, so the Ilorin-born jurist, could have about a year to spend in office, considering that the seniority and age arrangements, had given him just seven months to be in the saddle. Then a fight broke out between the duo. Obasanjo, as president, intervened. Secrets were spilled. As a reporter, I somewhat got involved, following a story about a computerization project contract awarded a family member within the system. I remember Uwais summoning select media, including yours truly, to state his own side of the story. The story he told, among others, are reserved.

In anger of perceived betrayal, Uwais stayed till his last day in office, June 12, 2006, with Belgore having to quit on January 17, 2007, just seven months after.

Since then, successive CJNs have stayed till their final day in office, save for the two; Walter Onnoghen and Tanko Muhammad; unceremoniously terminated by recent president Muhammadu Buhari.

As insignificant as a month advancement could be to the incoming CJN and the second woman in history, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who, ceteri paribus, has three years and nine months to lead the arm of government, the incumbent will be helping the system to solve a major problem of judges, at all levels, refusing to comply with a long-standing directive of the National Judicial Council (NJC), mandating retirement notification six months ahead of due date.

The refusal to comply with this directive is said to be at the heart of the delay being witnessed in filling due vacancies, in the judiciary. While that won’t answer for all cases, especially in recent time, when politics of the 2023 election is being read into practically every judicial move, the CJN leading in compliance to the Council guideline and even restoring the celebratory tradition of leaving seat ahead of time, for the successor to have time to adjust in acting capacity, would be a refreshing move. Once the head is leading the way, errant judges would think twice before defying the guideline again.

Yoruba believe that if you sleep early, you will wake up early. The mandate on early retirement notification can only help merit, when there is enough time to search for replacements, though this won’t automatically cancel human factors and backhand deals. At least, it would give the system some sense of functionality. If dead woods are still recruited to fill vacant bench when there is enough time to scrutinize available candidates, then, it would be clear that the leaders of the system are irrevocably married to mediocrity.

Ariwoola’s tenure is gradually sliding into the lame duck phase, save for a couple of combustible governorship appeals pending on the apex court desk, especially Kano’s. When the CJN’s docket is cleared of the contentious election appeals, all eyes would be on the incoming, who is going to judicially manage the 2027 poll.

Kekere-Ekun is a protégée of the first female CJN in Nigeria, Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, who masterminded her lifting to the apex court on June 8, 2013, when the older woman, was the CJN, though the odds then, massively favoured Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, from Ondo State. It took Ogunwumiju another seven years and five months, to regain a seat at the zenith court, on November 6, 2020.

Her sin in 2013, according to those close to Aloma, was that politicians and other outside interests, from her home state and elsewhere, including then-governor, Olusegun Mimiko, publicly pressured that natural justice demanded Ondo and not Lagos, should be handed the vacant South West slot, when both Kekere-Ekun and Ogunwumiju were shortlisted by the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

Aloma, undeniably, can be overriding in her Spartan discipline, but her lioness approach to the assignment, made her one of the scandal-free CJNs, so far.

Everything also points to her playing a big role in Kekere-Ekun’s headship of the system and her blueprint, could become a compass for the one following in her footstep. Here lies the challenge for some top judicial operatives; the combo of two women, believed to be ramrod in their convictions. A top system leader told me, the incoming woman will largely succeed if she allows the older one, to guide her, but reminded that women in power can be unrecognisable at times.

But a principle jealously upheld by Aloma which Kekere-Ekun will find indispensable was her decision to keep politicians and their accomplices away from her personal life and even judicial bureaucracy. She made it known from the very first day they weren’t welcome and stood by it, at least going by her aides’ claims, to the end. Nine years after office, nobody has been able to stain her with the least of scandal. That is how to serve in public office and even in her case, she took on governors like Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, et al. What these names represent in Nigeria’s politics isn’t hidden, yet she prevailed.

Aloma knew her “customers” and she sought a very long spoon, to deal with them.

I remember a day I needed a clarification from her through her now-late media aide, Ahuraka Isah. After an afternoon visit to her official residence, he came back to tell me that she initially refused to see him because not only it was a weekend, she had warned her aides that they could only come to her home, invited. She only allowed him in, after she was made to understand the seriousness of the matter. That “serious” matter will be part of a future package.

Yoruba will say you only need a momentary courage to warn that your farmland isn’t a footpath. Aloma seized the moment from the beginning and it went well.

That was the momentum missing at the entry point for the outgoing incumbent. The implication is there for all to see, especially the ill-fated Rivers’ visit, to honour retiring Justice Mary Odili and the subsequent Wike dinner.

Devil is too strong a name to give any man formed of God but no doubt, politicians everywhere can be devilish to gain political advantage and the acts to achieve such goals, could be devilry. At a point, there were plans to thwart Aloma’s history-making appointment with a proposal to send her to the so-called World Court as Nigeria’s representative, when it was almost her turn to be the CJN. She stubbornly refused. Goodluck Jonathan, as president, didn’t force the agenda. Her sin then was her alleged affinity for the opposition, seeking Jonathan’s takedown.

For Kekere-Ekun to succeed, there is already enough literature on her predecessors to review and make useful conclusions. There is also an awareness that should constantly govern her consciousness. Her coming is going to reinforce the domination of the polity by Southern Nigeria, with all three arms of government headed by Southerners. Wisdom is better communicated in proverbs.

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