Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused a significant portion of Nigeria’s judiciary of corruption, alleging that many judges and lawyers have compromised their roles in delivering justice. Speaking on Monday, May 19, 2025, at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari Branch, in Abuja, El-Rufai decried the declining public trust in the judiciary due to delays, procedural inefficiencies, and perceived bias in judicial decisions.
El-Rufai criticized the increasing misuse of ex parte orders in political cases, accusing some legal practitioners of engaging in “forum shopping” to manipulate the court system for political gain. “The rise in ‘forum shopping,’ the weaponisation of ex parte orders in political matters, and the growing perception that justice is for sale and available only to the rich and the powerful would cause the perceptive observer to conclude that what Nigerian courts do is the administration of law and not the administration of justice,” he stated.
He further highlighted a disconnect between legal processes and the delivery of justice, alleging that the judiciary often operates in alignment with the wishes of the executive arm of government. “In Nigeria, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between law and justice. Not only is justice wanting, but the law that is administered seems to be according to the wishes of the Executive,” El-Rufai said.
Urging legal practitioners to reflect on their roles, he called for a renewed commitment to impartial justice. “The demand on you, as practitioners in the Temple of Justice, is a sober introspection as you contemplate whether indeed Justitia is blind and whether she holds the scales of justice in fine balance,” he added.
El-Rufai’s remarks have sparked debate, with stakeholders calling for urgent reforms to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s judicial system.