Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has raised the alarm over what he described as the dangerous degeneration of Nigeria’s legal profession, warning that lawyers who manipulate the justice system for partisan or selfish interests are helping to pave the way for democratic dictatorship.
Okutepa, in a blistering intervention on the state of the profession via his X-Handle said the Nigerian Bar Association could no longer afford to look away as ethical standards, public confidence and the administration of justice come under increasing pressure.
He also took aim at the conduct of some practising lawyers, accusing them of deploying “chameleon” advocacy, inconsistent arguments and legal manoeuvres capable of frustrating the courts and producing what he described as unjust outcomes.
The senior lawyer warned that when those entrusted with defending justice become instruments for distorting it, democracy itself becomes endangered.
“I have always believed that we, the members of the legal profession, hold the key to democratic growth and development,” Okutepa said.
He lamented that while lawyers historically played decisive roles in building democratic institutions across the world, the Nigerian legal profession appeared to be losing sight of its foundational responsibilities.
His concern, he said, had been reinforced by the recently concluded election of the NBA, which he argued had exposed troubling weaknesses in the association’s democratic processes.
Okutepa called on Nigerian lawyers, particularly those in active practice, to return to the “roots of purity” of the profession and place justice above partisan loyalty, personal ambition and primordial interests.
According to him, a lawyer’s responsibility is not simply to win a case by every available legal manoeuvre, but to assist the court in arriving at a just decision.
“We must be ready to assist the court, not based selfishly on primordial partisan interest to becloud the real issues in dispute,” he said.
He warned that lawyers who knowingly distort issues before courts or tribunals risk becoming participants in the miscarriage of justice.
“When we as lawyers argue causes and matters in the chameleon’s manner to impose injustice and pervert the cause of justice and produce unjust decisions, we murdered justice and enthroned evil,” he declared.
Okutepa linked such conduct to what he described as the emergence of “democratic dictatorship” in Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence.
He argued that when legal practitioners deploy advocacy inconsistently to serve predetermined interests, political actors can exploit the weaknesses created within the justice system.
The SAN therefore challenged judges to remain sufficiently independent and vigilant to resist advocacy designed to confuse, manipulate or frustrate the determination of genuine disputes.
He recalled the famous declaration of the late Justice Niki Tobi in Abubakar v. Yar’Adua, where the Supreme Court jurist made it clear that no human being could influence him in the performance of his judicial duties.
Okutepa then posed a question that could resonate far beyond the legal profession:
“How many of our Judex today can boldly and confidently re-echo the above notable pronouncement?”
For him, the question goes directly to the heart of public confidence in the Nigerian judiciary.
He stressed that lawyers must vigorously defend their clients but warned that professional advocacy should never become a licence to knowingly mislead the court.
“No lawyer should knowingly mislead the court or Tribunals in the guise of performing professional duties,” he said.
Okutepa also issued an extraordinary warning to the NBA, saying the association must move quickly to restore confidence in the profession before public frustration reaches a dangerous level.
“The NBA must wake up and act decisively before Nigerians start stoning all Nigerian lawyers,” he warned.
He immediately clarified that he was not advocating violence or predicting an inevitable breakdown of law and order.
Rather, he said the warning was intended to demonstrate the seriousness of the growing public anger against institutions perceived to be failing ordinary Nigerians.
“I am not an advocate of doom. But we need to watch the way we practise in Nigeria as lawyers,” he said.
The senior lawyer lamented what he described as a painful reversal of the traditional role of lawyers in democratic societies.
“In advanced countries, lawyers are the light that shine in darkness. But here it appears that darkness has overshadowed the purity of legal practice to the prejudice of justice,” he said.
He also condemned lawyers who deliberately assume what he called a “spoiler role” within the adversarial system.
“When lawyers are ready to play the spoiler role in adversarial system, then justice is doomed,” Okutepa said.
He questioned how lawyers who deliberately frustrate the administration of justice could continue to regard themselves as “ministers in the temple of justice.”
But Okutepa’s warning went beyond lawyers.
He identified delayed justice as one of the most corrosive problems confronting Nigeria, arguing that citizens who cannot obtain timely remedies are effectively left at the mercy of those who violate their rights.
“There is no immediate remedies for victims of wrongs in Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the consequences extend far beyond individual cases, as prolonged litigation and delayed justice create fertile ground for corruption, impunity and abuse of power.
“It is because of lack of immediate justice in Nigeria that impunity and corruption have become thriving businesses in Nigeria today,” he said.
He argued that a country cannot build a strong economy or stable democracy while its justice system remains weakened by delay and decisions that, in his view, sometimes defy the logic of justice.
“No society can develop politically and economically when its justice system is polluted and contaminated with viruses of delay and judgments that defiled logic of justice,” he warned.
Okutepa also expressed concern that some judicial decisions appear to raise questions about the independence and strength of the judiciary.
For him, the survival of Nigerian democracy ultimately depends on whether lawyers and judges are prepared to defend the rule of law without fear, favour or partisan calculation.
“An independent judiciary is the cornerstone of democratic growth and development,” he declared.
He therefore charged Nigerian lawyers to recognise that the battle for democracy is not fought only at polling units or in political parties, but also in courtrooms where disputes over power, rights, elections and constitutional governance are decided.
The responsibility, he said, is enormous.
“The duty on Nigerian lawyers to prevent democratic dictatorship is heavy indeed.”
Jibrin Samuel Okutepa(SAN)
