Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, announced that the Supreme Court will soon have all 21 justices

During a session to mark the Supreme Court’s 2023/2024 legal year and the swearing-in of 58 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, announced that the Supreme Court will soon have all 21 justices.

This comes after a list of 22 Justices of the Court of Appeal nominated by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) for elevation to the Supreme Court was sent to the National Judicial Council (NJC) in mid-November.

Currently, the apex court has only 10 Justices due to retirements, but the CJN assured the public that the Supreme Court will soon have the full complement of justices.

Justice Ariwoola has been working diligently to ensure that the Court meets its Constitutional requirement of 21 Justices, and he is confident that this will be achieved in the near future.

Justice Ariwoola said, “The cherry news is that 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.”