Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has called on courts across the country to adopt virtual hearings and deepen judicial digitisation as a response to mounting delays in the administration of justice.
Speaking at the ceremonial opening of the 2025/2026 Legal Year of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the Chief Justice said conventional courtroom procedures were no longer sufficient to cope with the volume and complexity of cases before the courts. She noted that modern judicial dockets are increasingly shaped by technology-driven crimes, cross-border commercial disputes, financial innovations, terrorism-related cases, and evolving regulatory frameworks.
Justice Kekere-Ekun stressed that digitisation must become a permanent institutional priority rather than a temporary reform initiative. According to her, tools such as virtual hearings, electronic filing, digital case tracking, and secure electronic records are now indispensable to effective justice delivery. She added that technology enhances not only speed but also transparency, predictability, and public confidence in the judiciary.
Commending recent reforms at the Federal High Court, the Chief Justice described the deployment of electronic notice boards and digital directory systems as a deliberate shift toward efficiency and user-centred court administration. She said the systems improve access to information, reduce congestion, and strengthen institutional order within court premises.
Ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, the Chief Justice issued a strong caution against the misuse of interim injunctions in election-related disputes. She warned that conflicting orders, forum shopping, and abuse of ex parte applications undermine judicial credibility and public trust. Election matters, she said, must be handled with procedural discipline and strict adherence to constitutional and statutory timelines.
She further emphasised that judges must exercise firm control over proceedings, noting that delay in justice delivery remains one of the most persistent complaints against the judiciary. Effective case management, she said, is a core judicial responsibility and not a discretionary function.
Providing an overview of the court’s workload, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court disclosed that over 165,000 cases remained pending at the close of the last legal year, despite more than 16,000 cases being concluded. He attributed the court’s performance to sustained judicial effort amid limited resources, adding that reforms such as e-filing had commenced in Lagos and would be extended nationwide.
The Nigerian Bar Association, through its president, urged the judiciary to strengthen institutional integrity and address unpredictability in court sittings. The association noted that unexplained adjournments and irregular sittings impose heavy burdens on litigants and erode public confidence in the justice system, warning that the constitutional guarantee of fair hearing within a reasonable time cannot be realised without consistent judicial discipline.
