Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Kunle Edun, has issued a passionate call for attitudinal change within the legal profession, following the recent Court of Appeal judgment in CA/LAG/840/2017: Beddings Holdings Limited v. Anthonia Olufunke Carew.
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In a strongly worded public statement, Edun described the legal tactics employed in the 16-year-old tenancy dispute as a reflection of a wider crisis in the Nigerian judicial system—one that lawyers, judges, and the justice system at large must urgently confront.
“We must be frank with ourselves,” he wrote. “Are we dispensing justice or just living on it?”
The case, which started in 2009, involved an attempt by Beddings Holdings Limited to resist eviction from a commercial property at No. 55, Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, owned by Mrs. Carew. After nearly two decades of litigation and delays, the Court of Appeal in Lagos on July 9, 2025, upheld the Lagos High Court’s 2017 decision ordering the appellant’s eviction and imposing ₦5 million in costs for what the court described as a frivolous and abusive appeal.
According to Edun, the delays and procedural abuse observed in this matter mirror many others clogging the Nigerian judiciary. He condemned the routine filing of frivolous applications and appeals meant solely to frustrate proceedings.
“Lawyers are counsel in cases that are still 8–12 years old at the trial court. To what end really? Certainly, not for the attainment of justice,” he said.
He cited a personal case in Delta State that has lingered for over eight years due to what he described as deliberate delays by defence counsel. “Sadly, the trial judge only laments and expresses helplessness. How can a judge be helpless when a counsel is clearly frustrating the hearing of a case?” he queried.
The Court of Appeal had sharply criticized the conduct of the appellant’s counsel, Mr. John Okorikoko, describing the appeal as a calculated abuse of court process and ordering disciplinary action under the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee Rules. Edun, however, maintained that Okorikoko was not alone.
“John Okorikoko Esq. is not the only one guilty. All of us are,” he wrote, urging lawyers across the country to engage in deep reflection over the profession’s slide into unethical practices.
He expressed concern about the kind of legal profession the current generation will bequeath to the over 5,000 new lawyers recently called to the bar. “What kind of profession are we going to hand over to them?” he asked.
Calling for renewed integrity, professionalism, and discipline, Edun stressed that actions of lawyers and judges must align with the core ideals of justice and not just technical maneuvering.
“The admonition of the Court of Appeal in this judgment should be a wake-up call to all lawyers,” he said. “We are de-marketing the legal profession by the kind of advice we give our clients and the conduct we exhibit in court. We must do better.”
The Beddings Holdings judgment, delivered by Justices Frederick Oho, Olabode Adegbehingbe, and Nnamdi Dimgba, concluded a nearly two-decade battle over a lapsed tenancy.
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