Justice Olukayode Ariwoola: Jurist who fought, overcame new battles

On August 22, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will clock 70 years and based on the provisions of the constitution, he will be retiring  from the bench of the Nigerian judiciary. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE in this report looks at the novel battles he had to face as the CJN and how he is emerging victorious contrary to the expectations of some based on the fate of his two immediate predecessors.

When Justice Olukayode Ariwoola assumed office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in acting capacity on June 27, 2022, and later became the substantive CJN on October 12, 2022, there were divided feelings on whether he will succeed at the assignment many held bated breaths on the likely outcome of his tenure while some were afraid that the reputation he had built over the years may suffer a dent.

The reason for this is not farfetched; the unceremonious manner in which his immediate two predecessors left office was a big red flag and a source of concern to many. But despite the fears as well as the novel challenges that he faced; the cash crunch crisis, LG autonomy, conflicting court orders and perceived indiscipline on the bench, they negative predictions did not however manifest and the fears of family as well as friends has proved to be unnecessary as Justice Ariwoola faced his challenges head-on and like a jurist of note, he is leaving office with his head held high and like a warrior that went to battle and came back victorious.

And after two years, he will be leaving office with pomp and pageantry and all the ceremonies and respect that his office deserve. And on August 22, 2024, when he will clock 70, the age provided by law for judges to retire, the Supreme Court will honour him with a valedictory court session deserving of a man that has good results for his stewardship, even while the Apex court is on its 2023/2024 annual vacation following the conclusion of its legal year.

A life destined for greatness

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, a man destined for greatness is a someone who fate has continually positioned for the next level, though it was not without hard work. From a humble beginning, he forged his path by being dedicated and committed to his studies, despite the fact that his early years was in a community where people will automatically think options are limited.

Born in Iseyin, Oyo State on August 22, 1954, he started his primary education at the Local Authority Demonstration School in Oluwole, Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State; from where he moved to Muslim Modern School, where he studied from 1968 to 1969, before he moved to Ansar-Ud-Deen High School, Saki, also in Oyo State, where he completed his High School.

After this, he attended the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun State; where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LLB) before he was called to the Nigerian Bar and subsequently enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate in July 1981.

The eminent jurist then started his career during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Ministry of Justice, Akure, Ondo State as a state counsel and later as a legal officer in the Ministry of Justice, Oyo State, where he worked till 1988, when he voluntarily left the state civil service for private practice. After joining private practice, he worked as counsel in the chambers of Chief Ladosu Ladapo (SAN) between October 1988 and July 1989. And as he moved into private practice, he had other assignments; he was appointed as chairman of the Board of Directors, Phonex Motors Ltd – one of Oodua Investment conglomerates between 1988 and 1992

In August 1989, he established the Olukayode Ariwoola & Co in Oyo town and he ran this till November 1992, when he was appointed as a judge in the Oyo State Judiciary. During this period, he served as the chairman of the Armed Robbery Tribunal, Oyo State between May 1993 and September 1996; while he was posted out of the headquarters in Ibadan to the Saki Division of the Oyo State High Court.

He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in November 2005 from the Oyo State Judiciary and subsequently to the Supreme Court on November 22, 2011. Throughout his stay on the bench, Justice Ariwoola carved a niche for himself as an erudite judge who did not care about public opinion and dispensed his assignment without fear or favour in line with the provisions of the law.

He distinguished himself, not only in appearance; sporting well-trimmed signature beard but also in his interpretation of legal provisions. As CJN, he was committed to making a difference and upholding the sanctity of the bench in order to give the judiciary a pride of place especially in terms of justice delivery in order to make the judiciary the last hope of the common man in deed.

He was committed to this from his first year as CJN and he boldly made declarations to this effect on November 28, 2022, at the special court session to mark the Supreme Court’s 2022/2023 legal year when he stated that the third arm of government would do more in the new legal year to deliver on its constitutional mandate of justice delivery, adding that “the prosperity of the Nigerian Judiciary is the responsibility of all of us. We must not shy away from the challenges staring us in the face because if the judiciary fails, there will certainly be no country to call.

“Those wishing us bad and even engaging in different forms of unwholesome conduct to sink the ship will certainly not be comfortable with the likely result that would emerge from such unpatriotic effort. Nigeria is a project in our hands that must be collectively nurtured to prosperity and Eldorado. We cannot run away from those vices that confront us as a nation, rather, we have to fasten our belts and face them head-on,” he had stated.

Novel battles

While opinions are divided on whether the outgoing CJN did his best while in office, no one can argue that he did not rise to the occasion when the judiciary was faced with battles that the it hitherto shied away from. The Apex Court under his watch had to contend with issues that tested its ability to stand independently and give rulings that were against government decisions.

It was during his period that there were solid pronouncements on local government autonomy, change in naira notes and filling of the depleted spaces on the bench of the Supreme Court. And this has been attested to by people that worked with him. The Director of Information and Public Relations at the Supreme Court, Dr. Festus Akande who emphasised the many achievements of Justice Ariwoola, highlighted especially how he effectively worked with relevant stakeholders in increasing the number of Supreme Court Justices to 21 to meet its full complement for the very first time in history.

He explained that upon assuming office, Ariwoola sustained the call for an enhanced welfare package for the nation’s judicial officers.

He added that in this regard, the CJN activated “the mutual dialogue and effective consultation with the relevant authorities that resulted in the National Assembly Bill to increase the remuneration of judicial officers.”

Akande sreiterated that efforts by Justice Ariwoola resulted in automating the Enrolment Unit of the Supreme Court to enable all lawyers called to Nigeria Bar to be able to enroll online without necessarily going to the Supreme Court physically.

“This is now done by simply uploading a passport photograph, scanned signature, qualifying certificate issued by the Nigerian Council of Legal Education (NCLE) and Call to Bar Certificate issued by the Body of Benchers,” he added.

Increase in Supreme Court judges

On November 27, 2023, Justice Ariwoola while speaking at the special court session to mark the Supreme Court’s 2023/2024 legal year, which marked his second year in office and the last as the CJN, spoke about the depletion in the number of the court’s justices, adding that the process of appointing new ones was almost completed.

“As soon as I assumed office on the 27th day of June, 2022, I immediately got down to work on this urgent and immediate need in particular. Though we have not gotten them on board yet, I can convincingly assure the litigant public that within a very short while, the Supreme Court of Nigeria will, for the very first time in its history, get the constitutionally prescribed full complement of 21 Justices.

“That is one of the legacies I have been working assiduously to leave behind as it now seems that the court has been somewhat ‘jinxed’ from meeting its constitutional requirement since that piece of legislation was enacted several years ago,” he stated.

And he achieved this and solved a long term problem on February 26, when 11 new judges were added to the apex court’s bench.

Ruling on new naira notes

One landmark achievement of Justice Ariwoola’s tenure as CJN was the part the Supreme Court played during the naira notes crisis of the President Buhari’s era alleviate the suffering of the masses. During this period, the Supreme Court effectively deployed its power as a policy court to address the challenge and difficulties caused by the naira redesign exercise of the Central Bank of Nigeria under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele.

A seven-member panel of the Apex court, presided by Justice Inyang Okoro on March 3, 2023, delivered a unanimous judgment that the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the redesigning and withdrawal of old notes of N200, N500 and N1,000, without consultation with the states, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Council of State and other stakeholders was unconstitutional as there was no reasonable notice given before the implementation of the policy as provided under the provisions of the CBN Act.

Justice Emmanuel Agim in the lead judgment while dismissing the preliminary objection of the Federal Government challenging the jurisdiction of the apex court to hear the suits by the 16 states challenging the currency policy, said former President Buhari failed to comply with the court’s earlier order, directing the Federal Government to delay the implementation of the policy.

According to him, “the rule of law upon which our democratic governance is founded becomes illusory if the President of the country or any authority or person refuses to obey the orders of courts. The disobedience of orders of courts by the President in a constitutional democracy as ours is a sign of the failure of the constitution and that democratic governance has become a mere pretension and is now replaced by autocracy or dictatorship.”

Local Govt autonomy

The most recent bold step of the Supreme Court under Justice Ariwoola is its intervention in the local government autonomy issue where it held that it was wrong for the state governments to retain and utilise Local Governments’ statutory allocations paid through them for onward transfer to the councils and granted financial autonomy to the local governments on July 11.

The judgment was given in a suit delineated SC/CV/343/2024 which was filed on behalf of the Federal Government by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), with all the 36 states’ Attorneys General as defendants.

A seven-member panel of the apex court also declared unlawful the running of local governments by non-elected officials and those appointed by the state government or governor while it declared as gross misconduct, the dissolution of democratically elected local governments by governors, whose responsibility, under Section 7 (1) of the Constitution is to ensure the existence of democratically elected local governments.

It further barred the Federal Government from releasing funds to local governments being managed by undemocratically elected officials.

Disciplinary action against indiscipline

Another effort made under the Justice Ariwoola administration is the fight against indiscipline among officers as he ensured erring judicial officers especially judges faced disciplinary action. One of such efforts took place during the 105th meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) that held between May 15 and 16, 2024, where the NJC resolved to issue warning letters to Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court and Justice GB Brikins-Okolosi of Delta State High Court.

While Justice Ekwo was warned for abuse of the discretionary power of a judge by wrongly granting an ex-parte order in a suit between Juliet Ebere Nwadi Gbaka & 2 Ors V Seplat Energy Plc & 12 Ors and barred from being elevated to a higher Bench for two years, Justice GB Brikins-Okolosi was issued a warning for failure to deliver judgment within the stipulated period in Joseph Anene Okafor Vs Skye Bank, after parties had filed and adopted their final written addresses. He was also barred from being elevated to a higher Bench for a period of three years.

In addition, the NJC cautioned Justice Amina Shehu of Yobe State High Court for issuing writ of possession, conferring title on the defendant in a suit when there was no subsisting judgment of any court to enable His Lordship to issue the writ.

He came, he saw, he conquered…

In spite of these laudable achievements however, it is not all kudos for the outgoing CJN. While some are of the view that he discharged his responsibilities well, others believe that he did not do enough. And some  Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), said there are gray areas in his roles as they believe he performed beneath expectations in some areas including state of the Nigerian judiciary under his leadership, alleged misuse of authority, failure to undertake effective reform and unanswered allegations.

Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad (retired) on October 27, 2023, during his valedictory court session on the Bench of the Supreme Court, alluded to nepotism, favouritism, corruption and abuse of office in the judiciary. He had blamed the CJN for the depletion in the Bench of the apex court and called for investigation of the judiciary’s finances.

“Appropriate steps could have been taken since to fill outstanding vacancies in the apex court. Why have these steps not been timeously taken? It is evident that the decision not to fill the vacancies in the court is deliberate. It is all about the absolute powers vested in the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the responsible exercise of same.

“Beyond the issue of the salaries of Justices remaining static with no graduation for over 15 years now, it is instructive to enquire what the Judiciary also does with its allocations. Who is responsible for the expenditure? An unrelenting searchlight needs to be beamed to unravel how the sums are expended.

“Notwithstanding the phenomenal increases in the sums appropriated and released to the Judiciary, Justices and officers’ welfare and the quality of service the Judiciary render have continued to decline,” Justice Muhammad had said.

On April 15, 2024 coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) including members of the Public Interest Lawyers League (PILA), Open Justice Alliance (OJA) and Tap iNitiative (TI), Citizens Gavel (CG), among others, engaged in a protest in Abuja to call for an independent investigation into the allegations of nepotism and favouritism against Ariwoola shortly after his son, Olukayode Ariwoola Jr. was appointed a judge of the Federal High Court.

The protesters, under the aegis of the Civil Society Consortium on Judicial Accountability (CSCJA) accused the CJN of influencing the appointment of his younger brother, Adebayo Ariwoola, as an auditor at the NJC.

Addressing the protesters, Martin Obono, who claimed to be their leader, said the allegations should not be swept under the carpet, adding that if the CJN is found guilty after the investigation, he should be sanctioned.

“We, therefore, request that an independent inquiry into the appointment of Olukayode Ariwoola Jr. and the nomination of Oluwakemi Victoria Ariwoola be conducted to determine whether there were other suitably qualified persons nominated.

“In line with the age-old judicial maxim nemo judex in causa sua, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola should be asked to recuse himself as Chairman of the National Judicial Council pending the determination of the investigation. The investigation should be conducted and concluded within the shortest possible time and the results of the investigation be made available to the Petitioners and the Public,” Obono added.

However, many lawyers including Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and Wahab Shittu (SAN) are of the view that Justice Ariwoola has not done badly, listing his commitment to upholding judicial integrity as well as efforts to ensure that vacancies in the various levels of the judiciary are filled as well as improvement in the welfare of judicial officers.

They said during his tenure, there was commitment to integrity, fairness, efforts to protect the judiciary from political influence and justice which has earned him admiration and respect within and beyond the legal community.

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