Alex Enumah in Abuja
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, wednesday swore in Justice Benedict Kanyip as the acting President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN).
Kanyip succeeded Justice Babatunde Adejumo, who retired two days ago after attaining the retirement age of 65 years on October 1.
His swearing-in was in line with the constitutional provision that the next most senior Justice be appointed as the acting president of NICN pending the appointment of a substantive president of the court.
President Muhammadu Buhari, following the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), had on September 27 announced the appointment of Kanyip as acting president of the NICN pending the appointment of a substantive president.
Speaking at the inauguration, the CJN urged the acting president to provide quality leadership and take the court to an enviable height.
Muhammad said: “Take time to constantly look at the Act that established NICN and be a practical man; check all the reports being sent to the Supreme Court of Nigeria and be sure they followed due process.
“Go round the divisions under the court and see things for yourself, and also, work well with your brothers.”
He also appealed to staff of the industrial court to cooperate with the acting president and the management to find solutions to problems of the court.
Justice Kanyip hails from Anturung-Attakar in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He was appointed a judge of the National Industrial Court in 2000 for an initial period of four years with eligibility for a renewal for a further term of four years.
In June 2004, having completed the first term, his appointment for another term of four years was renewed as a judge of the court.
Kanyip attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for his LLB degree and the Nigerian Law School in Lagos for his BL degree.
He took up a teaching appointment as a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria in 1987 and rose to the position of Lecturer II before leaving in 1992 for the National Commission for Colleges of Education as Legal Adviser in the rank of Principal Legal Officer.
In 1995, he was appointed Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and rose through this appointment to the rank of Associate Research Professor of Law in 2000 when he joined the court.
Kanyip is the author of numerous scholarly articles in the areas of consumer law, labour law, tax law and commercial law.
He is the author of the book ‘Consumer Protection in Nigeria: Law, Theory and Policy’ (2005), and a joint author of the text ‘Elements of Commercial Law’ (1994).
Also, Kanyip was the Presiding Judge of the Abuja Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria also known as NIC is a court empowered to adjudicate trade disputes, labour practices, matters related to the Factories Act, Trade Disputes Act, Trade Unions Act, Workmen’s Compensations Act and appeals from the Industrial Arbitration Panel.
