A major rift has emerged within the body of Nigeria’s Senior Advocates (SANs) following explosive allegations by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, who claimed that many court judgments are now influenced by “the fatness of envelopes” rather than the merits of evidence. Speaking at the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture in Enugu, Osigwe described the judiciary as a “marketplace where justice is auctioned to the highest bidder,” a statement that has sent shockwaves through the nation’s legal establishment.
The NBA President backed his claims with startling data from a 2024 UNODC and National Bureau of Statistics survey, which estimated that public officials, including judges, received approximately N721 billion in cash bribes in 2023. This “moral crisis,” as Osigwe termed it, has divided senior lawyers between those who believe the rot is systemic and those who fear such generalizations destroy public trust in the upright members of the bench.
Kunle Edun, SAN, joined the chorus of concern, arguing that the judiciary is not insulated from the corruption permeating Nigerian society. He warned that when justice is rationed based on political or religious affiliations, the nation enters a “descent into extinction.” Conversely, other senior lawyers, including Lamilekan Bakre, have cautioned against “hasty generalizations.” Bakre argued that while corruption exists, making sweeping statements against the entire institution is unfair to conscientious jurists who struggle under heavy caseloads and inadequate infrastructure.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, also weighed in, warning that the SAN rank is a “privilege, not an entitlement,” and could be withdrawn from those who engage in unethical practices to influence judicial outcomes. He emphasized that senior advocates have a duty to protect the “temple of justice” rather than act as conduits for bribery.
As the debate intensifies, the National Judicial Council (NJC) is under increasing pressure to reform its recruitment and disciplinary processes. Proponents of reform, including Osigwe, are calling for the Chief Justice of Nigeria to be removed as the chair of the NJC to prevent a concentration of power and to ensure that appointments are strictly merit-based. For the USAfrica community, this public falling-out among the elite of the Nigerian Bar serves as a stark reminder of the fragile state of the rule of law in Africa’s most populous nation as it approaches the 2027 election cycle.
