John Afolabi Fabiyi ,
CON (born 25 November 1945) is a Nigerian
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
and former Justice of the
Supreme Court of Nigeria
The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...
. He was formerly a Justice of the
Nigerian courts of appeal.
Early life
Justice Fabiyi was born on November 25, 1945 in
Kogi State
Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the s ...
, North-Central
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
In 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
from
Ahmadu Bello University
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...
and was
Call to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1970 after he graduated from the
Nigerian Law School
The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up by the Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria. ...
.
Law career
He began his career at Noel Gery & Co, a law firm in
Kano State
Kano State (Hausa: ''Jihar Kano''جىِهَر كَنوُ) (Fula: Leydi Kano 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞤲𞤮𞥅 ) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. According to the national census done in ...
before he joined the Kwara State Judiciary as Magistrate and rose to the position of High Court Judge in the same state.
In 1994, he was transferred to
Anambra State
Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State ...
where he served as Chairman of Election petition tribunal for four years.
In 1998, he was appointed to the bench of the
Nigerian courts of appeal as Justice and in 2006, rose to the position of Judge of the Court of Appeal in Ibadan. He served in that capacity for three years before he was appointed to the bench of the
Supreme Court of Nigeria
The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...
in 2009 as Justice, the same year he bagged a National honour,
Commander of Order of the Niger, awarded by the
Federal Government of Nigeria, decorated by
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...
, the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
.
Fabiyi presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court in which Chief
Bode George
Olabode Ibiyinka George ("Bode George") (born 21 November 1945) is a Nigerian politician who became Military Governor of Ondo State, and later Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, then national vice-chairman in the southwest zone of the Pe ...
was discharged and acquitted of the fraud charges leveled against him by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...
.
He also presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed
Ayodele Fayose as the governor elect of Ekiti State in the June 21, 2014 governorship election.
He retired from the court on 25 November 2015 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
See also
*
List of Justice of the Nigerian courts of appeals
This is a list of justices of the Nigerian courts of appeals arranged in alphabetical order.
The list also reflect one or more justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria who had at one time served as justice of the appeallate courts of Nigeria.
A
* ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabiyi, John Afolabi
1945 births
Nigerian jurists
People from Kogi State
Living people
Ahmadu Bello University alumni
Nigerian Law School alumni
Supreme Court of Nigeria justices