JUST IN: CJN Ariwoola swears in 11 new Supreme Court Justices

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola has sworn in 11 new Justices to the bench of the Supreme Court.

Speaking after administering Oath of Office to the Justices on Monday in Abuja, Ariwoola charged them not to allow their ambition to becloud their sense of judgement.

The Justices are Jummai Hannatu Sankey, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Haruna Simon Tsammani and Moore Aseimo A. Adumein.

Others are Justices Obande Festus Ogbuinya, Stephen Jonah Adah, Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru, Jamilu Yammama Tukur, Abubakar Sadiq Umar, and Mohammed Baba Idris.

Ariwoola advised the new Justices to halt forthwith their interaction with people of unviable inclinations and pedigree, if any, and they should allow their conscience to guide and filter every thoughts.

He told the new Justices to prepare for criticisms or verbal assaults by litigants who have lost cases as Justices of the final Court of the land, where appellants’ expectations are often very high and infectious.

“There is no way you can please human beings, especially litigants. The easiest way to fail in life is by trying to please everyone.

“The only deity you can fear is the Almighty God.

“Once your judgement is in consonance with what God expects from you, and is also in accordance with the Constitution, you should consider yourself the happiest and freest person on earth,” he said.

He told the new Justices that their elevation to the Supreme Court was in recognition of their astuteness and evident passion for hard work, which is the hallmark of judicial excellence.

Ariwoola said, that administering Oath of Office to the 11 new Justices was unprecedented in the history of the Nigerian Supreme Court.

He told the new Justices that they were coming to join the Supreme Court Bench at a time when the rank had been grossly depleted to an all-time low of ten Justices for several reasons, mainly retirement and deaths.

He urged them to put in their best as seasoned judicial officers transiting from the Court of Appeal and had established remarkable acquitances with judicial oaths and roles guiding the conduct of judicial officers.

“Your moral uprightness, integrity and respect for the constitution and other extant laws in operation, must be unwavering and unassailable,” he said.