Federal Judicial Service Commission recommends Justice Onnoghen as new CJN

 Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen has just been recommended by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for further recommendation as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to President Muhammadu Buhari.According to Section 231 of the Constitution, Onnoghen’s appointment as the new CJN will bedone by the Nation’s President and confirmed by the Senate.Mr. Onnoghen will succeed the outgoing CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, whose tenure endson November 10.Mohammed will on the said date clock 70 years, the mandatory retirement age for justices of theapex court.Onnoghen, a native of Biase LGA of Cross Rivers State, was born on December 22, 1950. Hehas been a Justice of the Supreme Court since 2005.Onnoghen is the most senior of three Justices considered.The two others are Justice Ibrahim Muhammad and Justice Sulieman Galadima.The former was born on December 31, 1953, at Doguwa-Giade, Giade local government area ofBauchi State and was appointed to the Supreme Court bench on January 7, 2007.The later was born on October in 1946 in Nasarawa State. He was appointed a Justice of theSupreme Court in 2010.A recent report puts the renumeration of the CJN and other senior judicial officers atN33.47billion.