On Thursday Justice Olukayode Ariwoola retired from service as the 22nd Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN.
Justice Ariwoola while speaking at a valedictory session in his honour at the Supreme Court in Abuja, said access to justice has contributed largely to the delay in the hearing of cases as litigants and lawyers are forced to wait for several years to have their cases decided.
Ariwoola, whose retirement followed his attainment of 70 years, called for measures to be put in place to reduce the burden on the Supreme Court.
He explained that there are too many cases before the apex court which ought to have terminated at the appellate court.
Justice Ariwoola explained that the right to a fair hearing can only be guaranteed when lawyers and litigants do not have to wait for so long to have their cases heard, stressing the need for the bench to have more judicial officers to adjudicate on all matters timeously.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari had in June 2022, appointed Ariwoola as acting CJN, following the resignation of then Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, on health grounds. He became substantive CJN in October, 2022, after his confirmation by the Senate.
He became a Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC) in 2011, after spending six years at the appellate court.
Born August 22, 1954 in Iseyin, Oyo State, Ariwoola went to the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, for his primary education. He then proceeded to Muslim Modern School in the same town from 1968 to 1969 and later attended Ansar-Ud-Deen High School Shaki, Oyo State where he completed his High School.
The 1980 law graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) was called to the Nigerian Bar and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate in July 1981.
He started his career as a State Counsel on National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Ministry of Justice, Akure, Ondo State and later as a Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice, Oyo State until 1988 when he voluntarily left the State Civil Service for private practice.
He had worked as Counsel in Chambers of Chief Ladosu Ladapo (SAN) between October, 1988 and July, 1989 when he established Olukayode Ariwoola & Co – a firm of legal Practitioners and Consultants in Oyo town in August 1989 from where he was appointed in November 1992 as a Judge of Oyo State Judiciary, before his elevation to the appellate court in 2005, and Supreme Court in 2011.
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