The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola’s reign as the head of the Supreme Court of Nigeria have hit turbulence.
Ariwoola who was sworn in by President Muhammadu Buhari as the acting CJN on Monday following the resignation of Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has been hit by age cheat and health scandal.
Although, he was expected to operate in acting capacity until confirmation by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the national assembly, questions raised over his credentials, especially the date which he began school could cost him his job.
According to his records, Ariwoola was born in Iseyin, Oyo state, on August 22, 1958 but his credentials also claimed that he began his primary education less than a year later in 1959 at the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole, in his hometown. He would spend eight years in school before graduating in 1967.
He then moved to Muslim Modern School in the same town from 1968 to 1969 before graduating at the Ansar-Ud-Deen high school, Saki area of Oyo, for secondary education.
He earned his law degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1980, and a year later he was called to the Nigerian bar and got enrolled as a solicitor and advocate of the supreme court.
Apart from the discrepancy in his age, Ariwoola is also said to be not sufficiently fit to operate as CJN due to health challenges. Before he was sworn into his new role, insiders within the apex court told TheCable, an online newspaper that some northern justices were against his appointment on the grounds that the 63-year-old is battling health issues.
They alleged that the illness might affect his performance as the leader of the supreme court just as it did the immediate past CJN.
