Tinubu to return to France after swearing in Kekere-Ekun as CJN

President Bola Tinubu will return to France today after swearing in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

A flight tracker showed his plane is due to fly to Nice in France on Friday afternoon, following a flight from the same location to Abuja yesterday.

Tinubu had cut short his visit to France and returned to Nigeria to swear in Kekere-Ekun as CJN following the retirement of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

The president, on Friday, swore in Kekere-Ekun as the 23rd CJN at the State House, Abuja. She will operate in an acting capacity until her confirmation by the Senate.

Justice Kekere-Ekun took her oath at about 11:38 a.m. and assumed her rightful position in the council chambers on the left-hand side of the President at exactly 11:45 a.m.

She is assuming her new role as CJN following the retirement of her predecessor, Ariwoola, and her nomination and presentation to Tinubu by the National Judicial Council (NJC) on August 15.

Kekere-Ekun is now the second Nigerian female jurist to serve as CJN after Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, who held the position between July 2012 and November 2014.

Among those who witnessed the event were other Justices of the Supreme Court; the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; the leadership of the House of Representatives, represented by Prof. Julius Ihonbvere; the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

Also present were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume; National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.