CJN to judges: Stop the delays, or face consequences

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has put judges of the superior courts on notice over delayed justice, ordering them to take firmer control of their courtrooms or risk further eroding public trust in the judiciary.

She gave the charge yesterday while declaring open the National Workshop on Case Management for Judges of the Superior Courts of Record, organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.
The CJN said the judiciary can no longer be judged by the quality of its judgments alone, but by how quickly cases are concluded.

Justice Kekere-Ekun, who was represented at the event by Justice John Inyang Okoro, a Justice of the Supreme Court, blamed endless adjournments, procedural abuse, and poor scheduling for clogging the courts, warning that the ordinary litigant pays the steepest price.

“To the ordinary litigant, justice delayed often translates into justice denied,” she said, noting that the delays also scare off investors and chip away at confidence in the rule of law.

Justice Kekere-Ekun directed judges to enforce strict timelines, take firmer control of proceedings, and make full use of pre-trial procedures to clear backlogs. She also pushed for wider adoption of electronic filing, virtual hearings, and digital case-tracking tools, pointing to the UK, Singapore, and South Africa as models of how structured case management has cut delays elsewhere.

She linked the urgency to Nigeria’s growing caseload, rising commercial disputes, and constitutional litigation, which she said demands constant reform and tighter procedural discipline.

The CJN acknowledged that increasing commercial activities, constitutional litigation and rising public expectations have placed greater demands on Nigeria’s judicial system, making continuous reforms and procedural discipline imperative.

The three-day workshop, she said, is built around docket control, judgment timelines, and other tools to help judges deliver faster, fairer outcomes.

Earlier, NJI Administrator Justice Babatunde Adejumo told participants that judges must move beyond their traditional role of merely adjudicating to actively managing cases from filing through to conclusion, calling it now central to access to justice and public confidence in the courts.

The NJI administrator explained that modern case management requires judges to move beyond their traditional adjudicative role by actively supervising cases from filing to conclusion.

He explained that this approach enhances access to justice, promotes fairness, and strengthens public confidence in the judicial system.

While emphasising that judicial education and leadership training remain critical tools for equipping judges with contemporary case management skills, he added that the workshop provides an important platform for participants to exchange ideas, share best practices, and develop practical solutions to challenges affecting court administration.

He commended the CJN, who chairs the NJI Board of Governors, for her push on judicial capacity building, and acknowledged Justice John Inyang Okoro, Chairman of the NJI Education Committee, along with heads of court and facilitators for supporting the programme.