Though they still represent the minority, Nigerian female judges have recorded achievements, occupying even the highest leadership positions in the field.
March 10 marks the International Day of Women Judges, which seeks to promote the full and equal participation of women at all levels of the judiciary, to celebrate the progress that has been made and raise awareness about the challenges ahead, says the United Nations. This is the first annual celebration.
In 2012, Nigeria swore in her first Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, who served till 2014, when she attained the mandatory retirement age of 70.
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At the time of her appointment, there had been only three female justices of the Supreme Court, a figure that has now increased to five out of seventeen.
The Court of Appeal also boasts of 22 female judges out of 84, with a woman Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem presiding over it, while the Federal High Court has 26 women out of 74.
The margin between both genders in the field remains wide.
Mukhtar remains the only female out of seventeen CJNs in Nigeria’s history.
However, based on the current system of succession by seniority, a female judge, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, may be appointed by the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) to succeed the incumbent CJN Tanko Muhammad upon his retirement in 2023.
While Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili occupies a more senior position than Kekere-Ekun, she would have attained the mandatory retirement age at the end of Muhammad’s tenure.
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Women have also dominated the Lagos state judiciary.
Since 1995, when Rosaline Omotosho emerged as the first female Chief Judge in Lagos, six others have occupied the position in the state, with only women serving in that capacity between 2009-2019.
Despite the many achievements by female judges in Nigeria, a major stumbling block in attaining leadership positions in the judiciary is the statelessness confronted by Nigerian women upon marriage.
Many women who transfer service to their husbands’ states after marriage often get petitioned upon recommendation, on the basis of states of origin, regardless of years of service.
One of such cases occurred in 2012, when High Court Judge, Ifeoma Jumbo-Ofo, was recommended for the position of Justice of the Court of Appeal in Abia state.
https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-marriage-affects-the-rise-of-female-judges/
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