S-COURT NEW LEGAL YEAR: UBANI CALLS FOR SUSTAINED REFORM, INTEGRITY IN JUSTICE
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By Sunmisola Shodayo
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Monday Onyekachi Ubani, has characterized the 2025/26 Supreme Court Legal Year as a dual occasion of celebration and thoughtful contemplation, emphasizing that while the judiciary has achieved significant advancements, the endeavor for reform is far from completed.
Ubani, who attended the event in Abuja where 57 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) were inducted, remarked that the occasion demonstrated that Nigeria’s justice system is not stagnant but is consistently progressing.
“Where we were positioned last year is not where we are positioned today,” he stated, referring to what he termed “significant progress at both substantive and procedural dimensions of jurisprudence. ”
Nevertheless, he warned that the concerns articulated by prominent figures at the event—including the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and former NBA President, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN—served as reminders that reform must continue to be a persistent responsibility.
During the ceremony, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, delivered a progress report on judicial reforms under her stewardship and urged the newly appointed silks to maintain integrity and humility. The Attorney-General confirmed that the Federal Government is committed to enhancing transparency and access to justice, while Olanipekun urged the Court to stabilize the doctrine of precedent amidst conflicting rulings.
However, it was the intervention by the NBA President that resonated most profoundly. Osigwe underscored unresolved constitutional issues concerning the boundaries of executive authority during states of emergency, lamented the situation of citizens like Bright Ngene in Enugu whose appeal has been stalled by judicial recusals, and called for reforms to Nigeria’s bail system, which he argued disproportionately penalizes the impoverished.
Ubani expressed that these contributions imbued the ceremony with greater significance.
He noted that the bestowal of silk is not merely an individual triumph but serves as “a reminder of the significant accountability shouldered by the advocate—to act as a custodian of justice and a beacon of hope for the ordinary citizen. ”
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