By Henry Ojelu
The Nigerian justice system is standing at the edge of a digital frontier. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, AI, e-filing platforms, digital case management, and the growing threat of cyberattacks, judges, lawyers, and lawmakers are being forced to confront questions that go beyond the law.
At the 2025/2026 Lagos State New Legal Year Summit, held on Tuesday, the country’s legal elite gathered under one roof to debate how best to harness technology without undermining justice itself.
The mood was clear-technology has arrived at the courthouse steps, and it is not asking permission to enter. But with the promise comes peril, data breaches, manipulation of evidence, algorithmic bias, and the frightening possibility of hackers holding justice hostage.
Technology must serve justice, not rule it — CJN
In her goodwill message, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, underscored the urgency of charting a careful path. She was emphatic that the legal profession cannot continue to operate as if digital disruption were a distant possibility.
“Technology is no longer an option for a justice system; it is an imperative,” she declared.
But her tone was not celebratory alone. The CJN issued a sober warning that breaches of data, manipulation of records, and exploitation of judicial portals could fatally erode public confidence in the judiciary.
For her, integrity remains the bedrock upon which technology must be laid. “Technology must serve justice, not become its master,” she stressed, calling on both the Bar and the Bench to recommit to fairness, impartiality, and accountability in order to guide this new era. Without those values, she warned, technology could quickly turn from servant to master.
Lagos cannot afford to lag—Sanwo-Olu
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, aligned with the CJN’s position.
Lagos, he noted, is a city that thrives on speed, commerce, and constant movement. Its courts cannot afford to be slow in an age of instant transactions and digital banking. Technology, he argued, is indispensable for keeping Lagos courts efficient and responsive. But he also sounded a note of caution: “If court systems can be infiltrated by malicious actors, then the sanctity of justice is endangered.”
The governor pledged continued investment in infrastructure, training, and digital tools for judges and magistrates. His message was simple: the state government would not leave the judiciary stranded in a digital storm without the equipment to sail through.
No escape from AI—Lagos CJ
In his opening remarks, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, framed AI not as a choice but an inevitability.
“There is no escape route for us from the use of AI, which is now all-pervading globally,” he told participants.
While acknowledging the efficiencies AI could bring, he warned of potential fraud and manipulation within legal proceedings.
“We cannot run away from it. We will have to live with it. AI is changing almost daily, and if we do not keep pace, we risk being overwhelmed,” he stressed.
For Alogba, the challenge is twofold: embracing AI’s benefits while ensuring the legal profession is not blindsided by its dangers.
Law about people, not algorithms—Prof Fagbohun
The chairman of the event, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, a professor of Environmental Law and former Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, offered a philosophical but practical perspective.
“The law is ultimately about people — not files, not codes, not algorithms, but people.Technology must remain the servant of justice, and never its master,” he declared
He acknowledged that in an age of AI and rising cybersecurity threats, resistance was an understandable instinct — but it was not a sustainable response.
“Adjudicators and lawyers cannot afford to stand on the sidelines of technological change. We must lead not with fear, but with foresight,” he urged.
Fagbohun laid out what he called “guiding principles.” For adjudicators, AI may assist in research and case structuring, but never in judicial reasoning or final decision-making. For practitioners, AI is useful for drafting, research, and strategy support, but final documents must reflect professional reasoning and verified authorities.
For both, he stressed the importance of validating results, maintaining confidentiality, and avoiding over-reliance.
He proposed the establishment of a multi-stakeholder AI Risk Advisory Committee to develop frameworks, guidelines, and risk-mitigation strategies for the judiciary.
Dangers of hacked justice—Babalola
The keynote speaker, Olumide Babalola, a digital law expert, captured the audience with a mix of humour and warning. He began by listing everyday examples of AI — from Alexa to self-driving cars — before turning somber with a personal revelation. His e-filing credentials, he disclosed, had been hijacked and used to file fraudulent cases without his knowledge.
“This is not just about algorithms or futuristic robots. It is about the fact that a lawyer’s identity can be cloned and misused in real time,” he said.
He called for constant auditing of digital accounts, tighter safeguards for judicial portals, and awareness among lawyers that negligence in cybersecurity could have professional consequences.
Babalola also placed Nigeria in a global context, noting that countries like China, Australia, the UK, and South Africa are already integrating AI into judicial processes — sometimes controversially.
His message was blunt: Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind, but it must also not copy blindly. To him, judicial policies must focus on ethical guidelines, training, data protection, and cybersecurity resilience.
He also advocated fully automated e-filing systems to cut delays, insisting: “Efficiency should not come at the expense of public trust.”
Risks of deepfakes, hallucinations—Justice Fabamwo
Justice Eniola Fabamwo built on those warnings with a stark picture of the dangers AI poses if unchecked. Quoting the CJN, she reminded participants: “AI is a tool to augment, not replace, judicial wisdom. Ethical oversight, data privacy and algorithmic bias must be carefully considered to avoid unintended injustice.”
Fabamwo noted that AI is already embedded in Nigerian courts through research tools, virtual hearings, and public engagement. She said: “A judge in Lagos today can access files, allocate cases, and clear backlogs from anywhere in the world.Yet with these sweet desserts of efficiency come heavy pots of caution.”
She highlighted the danger of deepfakes — fake videos, voices, and documents so realistic that they blur truth and fabrication. “If such material were tendered in court, how do we distinguish reality from falsehood?” she asked, calling for urgent reform of evidential rules.
Fabamwo also warned of AI “hallucinations,” citing US cases where lawyers were fined for submitting fictitious case citations generated by AI. Nigerian courts, she argued, must adopt similar accountability measures.
On cybersecurity, she cited ransomware attacks and phishing schemes already targeting judiciaries abroad. She cautioned against reliance on public platforms like Zoom, urging Nigeria to develop secure, local judicial technology.
“AI outputs are only as balanced as the data on which they are trained. Judges must never surrender reasoning to machines,” she warned, adding: “Efficiency must never be bought at the expense of integrity. The gavel of justice must remain in human hands.”
State lawmakers in dilemma—Obasa
Away from the judiciary, the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, drew attention to a constitutional bottleneck. He noted that cybersecurity and digital governance fall under the Exclusive Legislative List controlled by the federal government, leaving states powerless to enact protective laws for their residents.
“How can we, as lawmakers closest to the people, respond to urgent realities when our hands are tied?” he asked, urging a rethink of the federal-state balance.
Bridging knowledge gap—Oyebanji
The Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee, Justice Adedayo Oyebanji, described the event as a deliberate attempt to close the knowledge gap in the judiciary. She stressed that AI was not coming in the future; it was already here. “The Lagos State Judiciary is committed to promoting transparency, efficiency, and global competitiveness in justice delivery,” she assured.
A system at crossroads
By the close of the Lagos summit, one message stood clear: Nigeria’s judiciary cannot turn its back on technology. Judges must balance efficiency with integrity, governors must invest in infrastructure, and lawmakers must bridge regulatory gaps. As Justice Alogba aptly noted, “AI is changing almost daily, and if we do not keep pace, we risk being overwhelmed.”
Nigeria now stands at a legal crossroads. Whether it builds a justice system strengthened by technology or undermined by it will depend on the choices made in the coming years.
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