Supreme Court gets full bench as CJN swears in Justice Oyewole

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Wednesday swore in Justice Joseph Oyewole as a justice of the Supreme Court.

The move restores the apex court to its full complement of 21 justices as provided under Section 230(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Supreme Court in Abuja, as the CJN administer both the Oath of Allegiance and the Judicial Oath to the newly appointed jurist.

She described the occasion as carrying “an added institutional importance”, noting that the court would now be better positioned to address the backlog of cases awaiting judicial determination.

“This is no small milestone. A full court enhances our capacity to sit in robust panels, to manage our docket more efficiently, and to ensure that the business of the nation’s apex court proceeds with renewed vigour and dispatch. It enriches intellectual diversity and reinforces the stability of our jurisprudence,” she said. “For a court whose pronouncements shape the legal destiny of the nation, numerical completeness is structurally significant to the effective discharge of our constitutional mandate.”

Justice Kekere-Ekun emphasised that appointment to the Supreme Court is not merely the culmination of a distinguished legal career but “the acceptance of a sacred national responsibility.”

“The Supreme Court stands at the apex of our judicial architecture. Its pronouncements settle controversies, shape the development of our jurisprudence, and define the contours of constitutional governance,” she said.