The immediate past Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, on Friday lampooned the judicial system in Nigeria and asserted that the legal profession is crumbling under the weight of corruption, ethical violation and poor standings.
Also, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch, on Friday issued strong warning over what it described as worrying violation of human rights in the ongoing clampdown on cultists in Edo State.
Prof. Osinbajo spoke during the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yenagoa Branch, 2025 Law Week Plenary Session, themed, ‘Setting The Pace: Law, Leadership and Transformational Development ‘ held at the Nigerian Content Monitoring and Development Board (NCDMB), Nigerian Content Tower, Swali, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.
The former Vice President said that stories of lawyers acting as a conduit for the giving of bribes to judicial officers are rife, lamenting that the perception that the country’s system of justice is corrupt and the bar and the bench are culpable is enough damage.
He lamented that the integrity of the justice system over the years in Nigeria has been consistently been eroded by corruption and sharp practices even at the Supreme Court which inconsistencies in judgements has not help its case
According to him, “Legal profession is crumbling under the weight of corruption, ethical violation and poor standings. Stories of counsel acting as conduit for the giving of bribes to judicial officers are rife.
“The perception that our system of justice is corrupt and the bar and bench are culpable is enough damage.”
Speaking on a sub-theme, ‘The Legal Profession: A Vision for a New Era’, the former Vice President said the legal profession is in a radically new dispensation — a dispensation created by the most consequential advancement of new technology, perhaps the most turbulent and uncertain times in living memory.
He asserted, “The pace of technological advancement today, rise of globalisation, the democratisation of information has already transformed every profession. Yet in the legal profession, we are bound by precedents and traditions and some bad habits have remained stubbornly resistant to change.
“Our profession needs a new vision, a new set of tools in a new era and that is so whether we like it or not. We are in a vastly different era, that when the tools we used today were designed will not work.”
On what the legal practice looks like today and what it would look like in the next five years, Osinbajo stated that it was scary that a lot of the work lawyers do or used to do could now be done much faster and much more accurately by technology.
He noted, “The systems don’t get tired, don’t go on leave and do not ask for extra pay, these tools are becoming much cheaper and like mobile phones they will be available everywhere and to every one very soon.
“Technology is fast replacing basic legal analysis and opinion writing, a big part of our cake has been bitten off by technology and more will be bitten off very soon and very quickly.
“Globalisation has made legal expertise easily available in real time anywhere — what is happening now before our very eyes is the most profound revolution that our profession has ever experienced, a revolution that will radically change the delivery of legal services and even adjudication forever.
“We are no longer the gatekeepers and custodian of basic legal knowledge; that is all gone, but more importantly, we are no longer the custodian of legal reasoning and legal opinions.
“What we should be looking at now is an enhanced curriculum for legal training if students have to be competitive in the years to come.”
He advocated the integration of legal technology and AI into the curriculum, learning how to critically assess inputs from systems like ChatGPT and other AI tools.
He said there was the urgent need to have more cross disciplinary trainings for lawyers to include law, data science and design thinking, data privacy, algorithm bias and designs of legal tech systems.
Osinbajo stated, “And because AI systems will increasingly take over legal tasks, like legal research, drafting and even basic reasoning, the true value of human lawyers will no longer lie in our ability to find the law or to summarise it, machines can already do that faster and more accurately.
“Lawyers must now focus on the aspect of legal practice that machines cannot properly do or are not able to replicate yet, so we must now develop skills in determining what ought to be done in the clients’ best interest, ethical reasoning and interpretations skills.”
Declaring the plenary session open, Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, said most people are threatened by AI, noting that if it goes a lot of way it is perceived, a lot of people will lose out in jobs.
“But that is also good for us as the society is dynamic. These are already used by all of us,” he said.
“I want to appreciate the organisers of this Law Week. Yenagoa Branch has been so vocal. This is almost becoming an international event.
“I am one person that will always acknowledge the rule of law and the big role lawyers play. You all know the history of how this governor (referring to himself) and his deputy came about. Each time the master of ceremonies says ‘miracle governor’, the miracle didn’t come from heaven. The miracle was through you (lawyers and judges),” Diri stated.
“This is an organ of government that we must all work towards guarding because if the judiciary fails, we will all fail,” added.
Diri said that for him and his administration, the principal thing about them is the rule of law.
He said his government would continue to respect the rule of law and guard jealously the independence of the judiciary.
The governor said, “The Chief Judge of Bayelsa State seated here will attest to it that we have not unduly at anytimeinfluenced the judiciary.
“We will always continue to work in the rule of law where justice will prevail and where justice will be served in an impartial manner and form. I want to appreciate you all for gathering today and dissecting the issues that affect us.
“If this country must survive, you have to make it survive. If you stand by the truth and by the rule of law, I’m sure that this country will survive as you know you are the last hope of the common man.
“If not for you I will not be standing here today as Governor of Bayelsa State. So be ready that anytime we gather like this, we must look at our own interest and the interest of our country, the interest of the children and the interest of generations yet unborn.”
In his welcome address, Chairman, NBA, Yenagoa Branch, Mr. Somina Johnbull, thanked the former Vice President, Bayelsa governor and many attendees which comprised members the Bar and the Bench for honouring the lawyers in the state during their Week.
He said that the discourse during the celebration would raise the bar in the practice of the legal profession across the country.
In another development, the NBA Benin Branch, in a statement signed by Itohan Ekama, Vice Chairman, NBA Benin Branch who also double as Chairman, Human Rights Committee; and Emmanuel Okorie, Secretary, Human Rights Committee, expressed deep concern over the mass arrests and arraignments of young men and women allegedly linked to cult activities without adherence to due process.
According to the NBA, many of the arrested individuals are being brought before courts without credible investigations or substantial evidence, a development it warns could erode the integrity of the state’s judicial system.
“The practice of remanding suspects without proof of evidence is a relic of the past and has no place in our modern legal system,” the statement said.
The NBA emphasised that while it supports efforts to tackle cultism and violence, such measures must be rooted in the rule of law and must not trample on the fundamental rights of citizens, adding that “Our courts must remain bastions of justice and fairness, not instruments for perpetuating abuses.”
The association therefore, urged law enforcement agencies to carry out diligent investigations before arraigning suspects and called on the judiciary to insist on proof of evidence, as mandated by the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Edo State 2018.
“We must not compromise justice and fairness in the name of security,” the NBA declared.
The Human Rights Committee of the NBA Benin has also declared its readiness to work with stakeholders to ensure that the campaign against cultism does not lead to the victimisation of innocent individuals, noting that human life and dignity must not be collateral damage in the fight against cultism.
Olusegun Samuel and Adibe Emenyonu
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