Nigerian-British legal scholar, Professor Dapo Akande, has been elected a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
Gatekeepers News reports that Akande’s election took place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, following a voting process involving the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
He is expected to serve a nine-year term beginning on February 6, 2027, and ending in 2036.
Akande was nominated by the United Kingdom for the position. He is the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of All Souls College and a member of the United Nations International Law Commission.
Born in Nigeria, the professor obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Ife in 1992 before qualifying as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria in 1993.
He subsequently built an international career spanning legal scholarship, practice and dispute resolution, advising governments and international organisations and appearing before several international courts and tribunals.
His professional experience includes serving as counsel and adviser in cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and other international judicial bodies.
Reacting to the development, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, congratulated President Bola Tinubu and described Akande’s election as another significant achievement for Nigeria at the United Nations.
Ibrahim said securing membership of the United Nations Security Council remained the major milestone in what he described as Nigeria’s 100 per cent UN ambition.
Akande’s election places him among the judges responsible for resolving legal disputes between countries and providing advisory opinions on questions of international law.
