The trial of 15 domestic workers accused of stealing property worth over ₦200 million from former First Lady Patience Jonathan has been adjourned 42 times in five years, a reflection of the worsening delays plaguing Nigeria’s justice system.
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The case, being heard in Bayelsa State, has seen no meaningful progress despite repeated court appearances. In June 2025 alone, two additional adjournments were recorded, extending the prolonged incarceration of the accused without conviction.
Compounding the judicial stagnation, Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro, the presiding judge, was abducted at one point during the proceedings — an incident that forced a shutdown of court activities in solidarity. Since then, no new hearing date has been assigned.
The persistent delay in this case coincides with global concerns over judicial well-being. In March 2024, judicial leaders from around the world gathered in Nauru and signed the Nauru Declaration on Judicial Well-being, establishing July 25 as International Day for Judicial Well-being. The day aims to spotlight the physical, emotional, and institutional challenges facing judicial officers globally.
According to findings cited during the Nauru summit, 76% of judges worldwide said they lacked adequate time for personal health, 92% suffered chronic stress, and 83% lacked sufficient institutional support. Incredibly, 97% agreed that judicial well-being remains neglected.
The crisis appears far more severe in Nigeria, which has only about 1,300 judges for its estimated 216 million citizens — a ratio of just six judges per million people. This places the country far behind its peers: Ghana has 13 judges per million, Kenya 30, and Egypt nearly 200.
Data from multiple sources between 2022 and 2025 show that while the Supreme Court has reached its full complement of 21 justices, other courts remain grossly under-resourced. The Court of Appeal has 88 justices; the Federal High Court, 94; and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 66. Meanwhile, state high courts account for roughly 846 judges.
Customary and Sharia Courts of Appeal further complicate the picture, with inconsistent documentation making national estimates unreliable. However, a conservative count brings the national total to between 1,284 and 1,305 judicial officers across all levels.
As judges grapple with inadequate staffing and crushing workloads, cases continue to mount. By early 2024, Nigeria’s superior courts were weighed down by more than 243,000 unresolved cases, including over 155,000 at the Federal High Court alone. The Court of Appeal had a backlog of 39,000 cases.
A 2024 report by the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) found that about 68 million legal problems in Nigeria remained unresolved, spanning disputes over land, family issues, domestic violence, and more.
“If we maintain the current pace, it will take over a decade to clear the backlog — assuming no new cases are filed,” a legal analyst told FIJ.
With delays come dysfunction. A 2023 joint survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that Nigerians paid ₦721 billion in bribes to public officials, with the judiciary topping the list in average bribe value per individual.
Judges aren’t the only problem. Legal experts say the system itself — with frequent adjournments, courtroom disruptions, and underfunding — fuels public distrust and forces citizens into “black market justice.”
In response to similar pressures, countries like Ireland have adopted formal Judicial Well-being Strategies. Their approach includes lighter dockets, mental health leave, and recognition of burnout as a legitimate occupational hazard.
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