Ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
By Tunde Balogun
Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has faulted the Nigerian Supreme Court for what he described as inconsistency and excessive reliance on technicalities at the expense of substantive justice.
Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Professor of Law, made the call in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, during the second Professor Yusuf Ali Annual Lecture, organised by the Kwara State University, KWASU, Malete.
He argued that the primary objective of any justice system should be to serve the people and uphold fairness, not to celebrate procedural rigidity or technical loopholes.
The essence of any justice system is to serve the people, not to glorify procedural formalities,” Osinbajo stated.
“Many judicial decisions, including those of the Supreme Court, often lean towards form rather than substance.
“Even English courts, whose practices we inherited, have evolved beyond such rigid technicalities by allowing amendments at any stage to ensure justice is done.”
The former Vice President lamented that Nigeria’s continued attachment to outdated legal doctrines undermines the delivery of justice and erodes public trust in the judiciary.
“Though the Supreme Court has occasionally adopted a more flexible approach, particularly in electoral matters, inconsistency remains a major concern,” he added.
“A justice system that glorifies form over substance risks losing its relevance and effectiveness.”
Osinbajo called on legal practitioners, academics, and policymakers to embrace “critical, decolonised thinking” in reforming legal education, practice, and the overall administration of justice in Nigeria.
Osinbajo, Nigeria’s immediate past Vice President, previously served as Lagos State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice under then-Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
