President Bola Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after a three-day work trip in France.
The presidential jet Airbus A330 landed at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at 2:25 a.m. on Friday.
Tinubu had cut short his trip to swear in the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, at the Council Chambers of the State House.
The President had left Abuja for France on Monday for what the presidency described as a a “brief work stay.”
Although it did not state the reason and duration of this visit, a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said, “The President will return to the country after his brief work stay in France.”
In a statement signed Thursday to express Tinubu’s gratitude to the outgoing CJN, Justice OluKayode Ariwoola, Ngelale revealed that the president “will swear in Justice Ariwoola’s successor at the State House Council Chambers on August 23, 2024.”
Meanwhile, the National Judicial Council had on August 15, after its 106th meeting, recommended Kekere-Ekun to the president to replace Ariwoola.
Kekere-Ekun, the Supreme Court’s most senior justice, will be sworn in as acting CJN pending Senate confirmation.
She succeeds Ariwoola, who took office on June 27, 2022, and stepped down on Thursday after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 years. Kekere-Ekun, 66, is slated to serve until she retires in 2028.
Tinubu’s message to the retired CJN described Ariwoola’s over three-decade tenure as a “successful public service career” and praised him for his contributions to the nation.
Ariwoola was sworn in as Chief Justice of Nigeria in 2022 after serving the country in various positions as a Justice of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos divisions before being elevated to the Supreme Court in 2011.
His replacement, Kekere-Ekun, will take the oath of office at 11 a.m. Friday.
