Kekere-Ekun: a case of the evil that (wo)men do? [Editorial]
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Quick bio of Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun
According to data obtained from the Supreme Court of Nigeria website, Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun was born on 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. She was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State in July 1996.
She was elevated as a Justice of the Court of Appeal on 22nd September 2004 where she served as a member of the Court of Appeal ICT Committee from June 2011 to July 2013.
She was appointed a Justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria on June 8, 2013 where she still serves till date.
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Apart from a tenacious career, Justice Kekere-Ekun hit the loudest headline on January 15, 2020, unfortunately for the wrong reason.
She was the then 61-year-old female judge that removed Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from office as the governor of Imo State and mysteriously declared 4th placed Senator Hope Uzodinma as the governor.
Little wonder because she is married to Akin Kekere-Ekun, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the same party on whose platform Senator Uzodinma contested the Imo State governorship election.
In the infamous judgment, Justice Kekere-Ekun, said that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in the state.
According to her, with the results from the 388 polling units added, Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election.
She, however, deliberately or otherwise, did not provide the details of the votes scored by each of the candidates from the controversial 388 polling units.
Consequently, she voided and set aside the declaration of Hon. lhedioha as the winner of the 2019 governorship election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued and a fresh one issued to Uzodinma as the “lawfully” elected governor of Imo State.
It is noteworthy, meanwhile, that both the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had thrown away same argument by Uzodinma as trash.
Before and after that fateful judgement, however, Justice Kekere-Edun does not know peace.
According to a publication by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on 07 September 2015, Abdul Adewale Kekere-Ekun, a Nigerian fugitive and son of the controversial judge was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Kingdom for murdering 18-year-old Marcus Hall in 2001, following a brawl outside Luton’s Atmosphere Nightclub.
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The 39-year-old had initially pleaded guilty to the murder charge before the Luton Crown Court before he later fled to Nigeria.
The young man, who goes by several aliases like Adebayo Dalvin, James Ekun, Adebayo Kekere Ekun, Adebayo Muta Lito Kekere Ekun, James Dalvin and many others, was however, nabbed by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and on February 12, 2015, for identity theft-related offences.
It was soon discovered that he was on the wanted list of the UK Police and an extradition notice signed by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, saw him extradited back to UK.
His taste for designer clothes gave him away as it was discovered that the jacket seen in a CCTV footage, belonged to him as it was one of only nine sold in the UK and he was listed as one of the buyers.
The judge was kind enough to spare him only from the hangman’s noose.
Another interesting episode in the life of Justice Kekere-Ekun was the denial of visa by the United States embassy in Nigeria on February 17, 2023, over allegations of corruption, three years after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Ihedioha and declared Uzodinma as the winner.
In the letter rejecting Justice Kekere-Ekun’s visa application, which was signed by Jay M. Sorensen, an American Consular officer in Abuja, the US government cited “sanctioned activities” as the reason for the denial.
It was gathered that the US authorities denied visa applications from several judges who had intended to attend a Judges’ conference in the United States.
She is currently banned by the United States over corruption but ironically still serves on the Bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
No wonder a former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, tagged Nigeria “fantastically corrupt”!
With the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) raging on at the Court of Appeal, which is expected to terminate at the Supreme Court, all eyes are on Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and his colleagues to see what trepidating surprise they will dish out to waiting Nigerians. Read more.
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