Gideon Maxwell
October 10, 2025
Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN has called for a comprehensive restructuring of Nigeria’s legal and judicial philosophy, faulting what he described as the courts’ growing obsession with technicalities at the expense of substantive justice.
Osinbajo, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, made the call yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, while delivering a paper at the second Prof. Yusuf Ali’s Annual Lecture organised by the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.
He stressed that the primary purpose of any justice system is to serve the people and uphold fairness, not to glorify procedural formalities or rigid interpretations that hinder justice delivery.
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According to him, “The essence of any justice system is to serve the people, not to glorify procedural formalities. When rules become more important than justice, we lose the very soul of the law.”
The former Vice President emphasised that the courts must return to their foundational duty of delivering equitable outcomes, noting that over-reliance on technical rules often leads to miscarriages of justice and erodes public confidence in the judiciary.
Osinbajo’s address drew attention to the urgent need for reform in legal education, judicial processes, and professional ethics to restore credibility and ensure that the system remains an instrument of justice rather than a tool of delay or exclusion.
He urged the legal community, particularly judges and lawyers, to embrace a people-centred approach that upholds the spirit of justice above the letter of the law.
