President Bola Tinubu has urged the judiciary to remain undeterred in its commitment to ensuring justice and ignore traducers.

Mr Tinubu said this at the public presentation of the autobiography of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the retired Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun is expected to take over from the CJN on Friday as Mr Ariwoola retired on Thursday, having attained the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

Mr Tinubu said the judiciary should not be discouraged by the antics of those who only believe the justice system works when judgments are given in their favour.

“I urge the Nigerian judiciary to live up to its constitutional mandate and ignore those who never see anything good in the judiciary unless the pendulum of justice swings in their favour,” he said.

Mr Tinubu acknowledged the many contributions of the judiciary, noting that “incisive judgments that provide extensive societal reforms, such as the one that recently liberated the local government councils from the shackles of financial lack, are critical to our society’s growth and development.”

He commended Mr Ariwoola for the many reforms initiated as the CJN, which he said had resulted in significant improvement in the administration of justice, including increased salaries and allowances for judicial officers.

“As the president of Nigeria, I am happy to have witnessed some of these laudable achievements. I hope his successor in office will carry on the torch passed on by His Lordship,” he said.

The president said that the success of Mr Ariwoola’s academic and professional career was not in doubt, adding that “his commitment to the ideals of a just and fair society can also not be overemphasised.”

(NAN)