Justice Ogunbiyi is a champion of gender rights – CJN

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen has described outgoing justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi as a champion of gender rights in the country.  Justice Onnoghen said this at the valedictory session in honour of Justice Ogunbiyi at the Supreme Court in Abuja yesterday.   “She has been an inspiration […]

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen has described outgoing justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi as a champion of gender rights in the country. 

Justice Onnoghen said this at the valedictory session in honour of Justice Ogunbiyi at the Supreme Court in Abuja yesterday.  

“She has been an inspiration to female legal practitioners, being active in the NBA Women’s Forum as well as other gender related organizations,” he said.

 Also, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) eulogized Ogunbiyi for being on the panel that delivered the judgment in Ukeje vs Ukeje, which gave eternal justice to womanhood in Igboland through the right of inheritance.  

“The Nigerian Bar Association wishes to use this opportunity to condemn very strongly the abduction of these young girls and calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria to use all means within its powers to secure the safe return of these children to their parents and communities,” he said.  

Meanwhile, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Marian Aloma Mukhtar has described Justice Ogunbiyi, who is the first female judge from the North East and the fourth female Justice of the Supreme Court as “an epitome of humility.”

She said this at the presentation of the book: “Honey from the Rock”, a biography of Justice Ogunbiyi in Abuja over the weekend. 

The former CJN tasked the judiciary to revive the tradition of merit-based appointments into the bench and discard the culture of lobby and godfatherism.

 Justice Ogunbiyi started her legal career as an Assistant Registrar at the High Court of Justice, Maiduguri, Borno State in 1971. After her National Youth Service at the Ministry of Justice in Kaduna State from 1976 to 1977, she returned to the Ministry of Justice Borno State as a Sate Counsel.  

She was appointed Chief Judge of Borno State High Court in 1987, and was elevated to the Supreme Court in July 2013. She is retiring after attaining the statutory age of 70.