The Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has recommended Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for further recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
Onnoghen’s appointment as the new CJN, according to Section 231 of the Constitution, will be done by President Buhari, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Mr. Onnoghen will succeed the outgoing CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, whose tenure ends on November 10.
Mohammed will on the said date clock 70 years, the mandatory retirement age for justices of the apex court.
Onnoghen, a native of Biase LGA of Cross Rivers State, was born on December 22, 1950. He has been a Justice of the Supreme Court since 2005.
Onnoghen is the most senior of three Justices considered.
The two others are Justice Ibrahim Muhammad and Justice Sulieman Galadima.
The former was born on December 31, 1953 at Doguwa-Giade, Giade local government area of Bauchi State and was appointed to the Supreme Court bench on January 7, 2007.
The later was born on October in 1946 in Nasarawa State. He was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2010.
A recent report puts the reenumeration of the CJN and other senior judicial officers at N33.47billion.
Comments