Despite remarkable achievements in the justice sector since Nigeria attained independence on October 1, 1960, the saying that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man still remains elusive, writes Alex Enumah.
o doubt Nigeria’s judiciary has evolved since independence, especially in the past few years, owing to the deployment of technology. From its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, when the Supreme Court of Nigeria became the final court of all appeals, to the creation of courts across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, efforts have been on to ensure Nigerians in need of justice not only have access to justice but equally get the justice they so desire.
Besides the creation of magistrate courts, customary and sharia courts to meet the justice needs of the people, the judiciary ensure the establishment of divisions of the Federal High Court in all states of the federation to attend to judicial issues outside the jurisdiction of states High Court.
In terms of appeals, the judiciary is also pursuing the creation of divisions of the Court of Appeal in all states of the federation, due to the litigious nature of Nigerians who have the penchant of pursuing all cases to the Supreme Court.
In her remarks on Monday at the opening of the 2025/2026 new legal year of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice KudiratKekere-Ekun listed achievements of the apex court to include infrastructural development and digitization of courts to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
Despite all these achievements, many Nigerians feel the judiciary is still very far from meeting their expectations, especially in terms of justice delivery. In a remark at the 2025 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu SaadAbubakar, lamented that justice is increasingly getting out of the reach of the poor. According to the Sultan, the integrity of the judicial system is daily being undermined by corruption and inequality. In his words, “Today, justice is increasingly becoming a purchasable commodity, and the poor are becoming victims of this kind of justice, while the rich commit all manner of crime and walk the streets scot-free”.
While observing that justice is the foundation of any stable society, the Sultan urged that law must always target justice as its ultimate goal. “Three things are particularly important: continuing efforts at law reforms to gradually decolonise our laws and make them closer to our values, culture and history; addressing social justice to tackle glaring inequalities and foster cohesion; and improving access to justice, especially considering the rising cost of litigation and the exclusion of the weak and vulnerable,” he had stated.
Few months back, former Vice President, Professor YemiOsinbajo (SAN) had observed that a consistent problem with the country’s legal system has been, “how to make sure that our cases go quickly through the courts, especially civil cases”.
Putting into perspective how the country’s legal system is seen outside Nigeria, Osinbajo recalled a Court of Appeal in England, which had held that “to leave a case brought before it in the hands of Nigerian courts would be catastrophic”, because it takes between 20 to 30 years to conclude a civil case in Nigeria.
“I think that aside from the fact that it is a very sad commentary on our judicial system, our administrative justice system, it also shows that we have a human problem that can be solved. It is not a supernatural issue or anything like that. It can be resolved.
“And I think that the effort that we need to put into resolving it is one that we must all address our minds to”.
Also speaking at the same occasion with the former Vice President, a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Adefope-Okojie, had warned that the judiciary today, “is almost comatose”, adding that what is happening in the country can no longer be tolerated because “people have lost interest in the court”.
She lamented that the judiciary which is the most powerful arm of government is fast becoming a weakling and being pushed about by politicians. “The judiciary has the power to give life and take it, determines who becomes president, governor and even lawmaker”, she said, but has not been able to do so much.
Justice Adefope-Okojie, who decried the high number of backlog cases, pointed out that, “nobody is going to come to a country where the judicial system is not working, where disputes take forever to be resolved, nobody is coming there”. According to her, Nigeria is not among the top 10 African countries for investment because because of issues like low integrity, speed of adjudication, independence, adherence to human rights, among others.
While she challenged judicial officers to replicate the courage, boldness and integrity of past judicial officers, who stood on the side of justice and the people against totalitarian administrations in times past, Adefope-Okojie, charged the National Judicial Council (NJC), to always protect judges who are defending the people against the system.
Speaking only few days back at the Supreme Court, President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), MaziAfamOsigwe (SAN) pointed out that the judiciary needs to do more work about changing the negative perception of the judiciary.
“Public confidence in the judiciary may have plummeted, but we can reverse many of the negative perceptions in this legal year”, Osigwe had said. While recalling that the judiciary was hailed for being the bastion of the rule of law in the beginning of the Fourth democratic dispensation for giving sound and timeous judgments he decried the slow peace of the judiciary in justice delivery of recent.
He said, “This Court successfully handled over 1,000 pre- and post-election cases within 60 days of the filing of the Notice of Appeal. In the speech by President Bola Tinubu, declaring the end of the State of Emergency in Rivers State, the President said there were no less than 40 cases instituted before various Courts including this Court challenging the declaration of emergency.
“It is really troubling that only one of the cases was decided before the expiration of the State of Emergency. The one initiated before this Court does not have a hearing date even after the expiration of the six months period”.
The NBA president also regretted that the last time a State of Emergency was declared in Plateau State, it took the apex court more than two years to decide the matter. He pointed out that as at the time the judgment was delivered, the people of Plateau State had forgotten that a State of Emergency was
ever declared. According to him, the people hardly benefit any time when the apex court judgment comes after the State of Emergency had elapsed by effluxion of time.
His words: “Delay in deciding such weighty constitutional matters risks sending the wrong signal that the judiciary is indifferent to issues that affect governance at its most fundamental levels.
“A prompt determination would have clarified the law, reinforced federalism, and ensured that the wheels of government at the grassroots continue to run without hindrance”.
While stressing that delay in the legal process harms the victims and undermines accountability and thereby effectively denying justice, he urged the apex court to “make a mark in history by ensuring that matters of urgent national importance are not left in limbo. Swift and decisive justice reinforces the Court’s role as the
stabilizing anchor of our democracy”.
Speaking to THISDAY on Nigeria’s 65 years of independence, a senior lawyer, MrDayoAkinlaja, lamented that the long period it takes to resolve legal issues remain the bane of the county’s judiciary. “Truth be told, we are yet to have the judiciary of our dream in this country. The judicial system is fraught with a lot of problems. Principal among this is the inordinate number of years it takes to get a matter disposed of. It is a truism that justice delayed is justice denied”, he said.
Although the Chief Justice of Nigeria has assured of efforts to reverse the situation, however only time can tell how soon Nigeria’s judiciary would take its rightful place of honour.
