Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has said that all his judgments while in office were delivered without bias or personal interest.
He insisted that his conscience remains clear and that every decision he made on the bench was guided by fairness and the fear of God.
Ariwoola, who served as the Chief Justice of Nigeria between 2022 and 2024, made the remarks during an exclusive interview in Lagos on Friday.
He explained that throughout his career, from the lower courts to the Supreme Court, he handled every case strictly on merit.
According to him, “I handled cases strictly on merit throughout my judicial career. I also served as Chairman of the Armed Robbery Tribunal for about three years at the trial court, where I delivered judgments based on evidence and the law, without bias. Those deserving of conviction were sentenced, and those who should be freed were discharged. I did so with a clear conscience and without regret.”
Justice Ariwoola recalled serving on several Election Petition Tribunals and Appeal Courts in states including Zamfara, Enugu, Benin, Port Harcourt, Yola, and Ilorin before his appointment to the Supreme Court in 2011.
Speaking further, he dismissed claims of religious bias in Nigeria’s judiciary or governance, stressing that insecurity and terrorism in the country are not tied to religion.
He said, “The Boko Haram issue is not religious. Kidnapping and terrorism have nothing to do with religion. I attend church when I can. My eldest sister, from the same mother, was a Baptist, and I used to go to church with her. There is no Christian song I cannot sing with them. Neither Christians nor Muslims should be against each other because our God is a God of peace.”
Ariwoola urged Nigerians to see one another as brothers and sisters, regardless of faith or ethnicity, emphasizing that peace and unity are the only ways to end the country’s security crisis.
However, the former Chief Justice also noted that his years on the bench taught him that justice and peace thrive only in an environment free from hate and division.