Yemi Osinbajo, a former vice president, has criticised the courts’ ongoing propensity to prioritise procedural details above the pursuit of substantive justice and urged for a thorough reform of Nigeria’s legal and judicial system.
The call was made on Thursday in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, during the second Professor Yusuf Ali Annual Lecture, which was hosted by the Kwara State University, KWASU, Malete. Osinbajo is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a Professor of Law.
He maintained that serving the public and maintaining justice should be the main goals of any legal system, not honouring formalities or technical flaws.
“The essence of justice is not in the form but in the substance. Unfortunately, many of our court decisions, including some of those delivered by the Supreme Court, tend to focus more on procedure rather than the core issues of justice,” Osinbajo stated.
The former vice president gave examples from other jurisdictions, pointing out that even English courts—from whom Nigeria got its legal traditions, have moved past strict proceduralism by permitting changes at any point in the process to guarantee that justice is eventually served.
Osinbajo cautioned that Nigeria’s obsession with antiquated formalities undermines public trust in the judiciary and impedes the administration of justice.
“In view of this, I urge legal practitioners, academics, and policymakers to engage in critical and decolonised thinking towards reforming our legal education, legal practice, and overall administration of justice,” he said.
Osinbajo further acknowledged that the Supreme Court has occasionally adopted a more accommodating position, especially in electoral issues, but stated that inconsistent application of these principles continues to be a significant setback.
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