The PUNCH reported that Ariwoola, who is the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, was sworn in around 3:00pm, hours after the resignation of the former CJN.
Below are 15 things to know about the acting CJN:
1 – Justice Ariwoola was born on August 22, 1958.
2 – He hails from Iseyin, Oyo State.
3 – He started his education in Iseyin at the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole, Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, where he finished his primary education in 1967.
4 – He attended the Muslim Modern School in the same town between 1968 and 1969 before proceeding to Ansar-Ud-Deen High School, Saki, in Oyo-North of Oyo State.
5 – Ariwoola studied Law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife, and bagged his Bachelor of Law degree with Honours in July, 1980.
6 – Justice Ariwoola was called to the bar in July 1981, and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate soon thereafter.
7 – He was a State Counsel for the National Youth Service Corps at the Ministry of Justice, Akure, Ondo State, and later a Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice of Oyo State until 1988 when he voluntarily left the official bar of the State Civil Service for private practice.
8 – He worked as Counsel-in-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.
9 – He was appointed as a Judge of Oyo State Judiciary and sworn in as a Judge of the High Court November 2, 1992.
10 – He served as Chairman, Board of Directors, Phonex Motors Ltd – one of Oodua Investment conglomerate – between 1988 and 1992.
11 – Ariwoola served as 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.
12 – He served on the Election Tribunals in Zamfara and Enugu States in 1999, and on Election Appeal Courts in Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Yola and Ilorin at various times.
13 – He was sworn in as Justice of the Court of Appeal on November 22, 2005.
14 – He was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on November 22, 2011.
15 – Justice Ariwoola was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Monday, June 27, 2022.
