SENATE CONFIRMS ARIWOOLA AS NEW CJN

The senate at the session of today screened and confirmed Justice Olukayode Ariwoola from acting capacity to substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).  

The head of the judiciary arm of government was appointed in June by President Muhammadu Buhari to replace former Chief Justice Mohammed Tanko who resigned on account of his health.

At the screening, he was questioned by the senators on his plans for the judiciary in his tenure, responding to questions before his confirmation, he said that inadequate  personnel, welfare and funding are the major challenges facing the judiciary. 

He requested for appointment of more 

judges to facilitate speedy dispensation

 of cases and urged the senate to always give expeditious approval to budgets of 

the judiciary to enable it discharge its duties.

He also said that final judgements on some cases should be made to end at the appeal courts.

He explained that some of the issues are constitutional matters and require amendments of the constitution, adding that the national assembly should help in amending the laws on such matters.

The CJN disclosed that it is his utmost desire to introduce technology into the operations of the country’s judicial system for timely and efficient delivering of its functions.

On the allegation that some judges wrote a petition against the immediate past CJN,  Ariwoola explained that what leaked to the media was not a petition but a letter of complaints by 14 justices on issues of welfare.

“The 14 of us wrote and delivered by hand to our brother, the past CJN, how it got to the newspapers, we do not know, we had no problems with our number one, there

was no petition against the CJN, we were not protesting, we only put our complaints on paper to our brother,” he said.