The number of Justices of the Court of Appeal will increase to nine on September 20, when the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola administers the oath of office on them.
However, the number of Supreme Court Justices will reduce by one to 11 with the retirement of Justice Amina Augie on September 21. The Constitution provides for a total of 21 Supreme Court Justices.
Supreme Court’s Director of Information, Dr. Festus Akande, said in a statement that the swearing-in of the new Appeal Court Justices will hold at 11am in the Supreme Court’s Main Court auditorium.
The new Justices are: Hannatu Azumi Laja-Balogun from Kaduna State, Binta Fatima Zubairu from Kaduna State, Peter Chudi Obiora from Anambra State, Okon Efreti Abang from Akwa Ibom State, Asma’u Musa Mainoma from FCT, Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu from Oyo State, Jane Esienanwan lyang from Cross River State, Hadiza Rabiu Shagari from Sokoto State and Paul Ahmed Bassi from Borno State.
Justice Amina Augie will retire from the Supreme Court bench on September 21 upon attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years. She was sworn in as Justice of Supreme Court on November 7, 2016 and graduated from the University of Ife in 1977.
