The Supreme Court on Tuesday has nullified the victory of Kelechi Ihedioha as the Governor of Imo State and declared Hope Uzodinma the winner
Delivering the judgement, Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun declared that the votes due to Senator Uzodinma were unlawfully excluded from the 318 polling units and should be added to his votes.
According to Channels News, the apex court considered the submissions of a Principal witness who was on a subpoena to present results and held that the lower court was wrong in its ruling.
Justice Kekere-Ekun, while reading the lead judgment, declared Senator Uzodinma as the validly elected Governor and the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha be withdrawn immediately.
The question on many lips is who is this Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun that gave this unprecedented judgement.
Honourable Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun popularly known as Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was born May 7, 1958. She obtained her LL.B in 1980 from the University of Lagos and LL.M from the London School of Economic and Political Science in November 1983. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on 10th July 1981.
She was appointed a Senior Magistrate Grade II, Lagos State Judiciary in December 1989 and became a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State in July 1996. She served as Chairman Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos from November 1996 to May 1999.
In September, 2004, Justice Kekere-Ekun was elevated as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. She served as a member of the Court of Appeal ICT Committee from June 2011 to July 2013. She was elevated to the Apex Court as a Justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria on June 8, 2013 becoming the youngest Judge of the Supreme Court.
Kekere-Ekun is one of the most upright jurists. She wrote the leading judgment in the Rivers State governorship election petition that was fought up to the apex court. Ordinarily, people think that the judgment should have reflected her background because her husband is one of the APC chieftains
She has attended numerous courses and seminars within and outside Nigeria, such as Case Management and Court Administration Training Workshop Organized by the National Centre for State Courts in June 2001, ICT Training Course (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) in Dubai UAE in July 2012 and the 34th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, Cambridge, UK in September 2016.
Justice Kekere Ekun is married to Akin Kekere-Ekun, a distinguished retired banker and onetime Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of now defunct Habib Nigeria Bank Limited. He is also an APC chieftain.
