Olukayode Ariwoola (born 22 August 1954) is a Nigerian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria who served as the chief justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 2022 to 2024. He was formerly a justice of the Nigerian courts of appeal and on 22 November 2011, he was appointed to the bench of the supreme court of Nigeria. He was appointed substantive

chief justice of Nigeria The chief justice of Nigeria or CJN is the head of the judicial arm of the government of Nigeria, and presides over the country's Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. The current chief justice is Kudirat Kekere-Ekun who was appoi ...

on 27 June 2022 following the resignation of former chief justice Tanko Muhammad and formally confirmed chief justice by the

Nigerian Senate The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's legislature and has the power to make laws, as summarized in chapter one, sectio ...

on 21 September 2022.

Early life and education

Ariwoola was born in Iseyin, Oyo State, started his primary education in Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in Iseyin local government area of

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

. 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.

Legal career

Ariwoola graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife, Osun State, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in law (LLB). He was called to the Nigerian bar and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate in July 1981. Ariwoola started his career as a State Counsel on

National Youth Service Corps The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory, post-tertiary scheme set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime of Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, to "reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian ...

(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 the 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. He was chairman, Board of Directors, Phonex Motors Ltd., one of the Oodua Investment conglomerates, between 1988 and 1992, and chairman, Armed Robbery Tribunal, Oyo State, between May 1993 and September 1996, when he was posted out of the headquarters, Ibadan, to Saki High Court. Ariwoola, before his elevation to the Supreme Court, served as Justice of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos Divisions. Justice Olukayade Ariwoola is the immediate past chief justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Membership

*Member, Nigerian Bar Association *Member,

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

*Member,

Nigerian Body of Benchers The Nigerian Body of Benchers is a professional body concerned with the admission of successful candidates into the Legal Profession at the Nigerian Law School Bar Final Examination. Members of the body are called '' Benchers''. The body also re ...

National honours and Recognitions

In October 2022, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), a Nigerian national honour was conferred on Ariwoola by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

. On 11 June 2024, he was conferred with the title of Special Marshal by the FRSC.

References

11. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/07/breaking-buhari-writes-senate-seeks-the-confirmation-of-ariwoola-as-cjn/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariwoola, Olukayode Nigerian jurists Living people Yoruba lawyers Supreme Court of Nigeria justices 1958 births