Olusegun Adeyemo
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Dr. Dare Sunday, has stressed that for Nigeria to truly entrench the rule of law, reforms must go beyond speeches and workshops and translate into practical and sustainable actions.
Speaking in an interview with The Journal Nigeria, Dr. Sunday emphasized that Nigeria must fix the architecture of justice if it genuinely desires to uphold the rule of law.
He described the nation’s justice system as one deeply rooted in interlocking weaknesses within its legal framework, justice administration, law enforcement, and public morality.
Dr. Sunday outlined five urgent priorities to reform the system, which include Legal modernization, Deepening the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Professionalizing and modernizing policing,
Strengthening judicial independence and accountability, and Civil and institutional reorientation.
He further noted that to achieve these goals, the Nigeria Law Reform Commission (NLRC) must be empowered with adequate funding, technical expertise, and political independence to continuously review, update, and harmonize the nation’s body of laws.
“A dynamic society cannot operate under static laws,” he said.
“The NLRC should be repositioned as the central engine of legislative modernization, ensuring that Nigeria’s legal framework evolves in step with social and technological change.”
Dr. Sunday also urged all states to domesticate the ACJA and build capacity for its practical enforcement, noting that a digital justice system featuring e-filing, virtual hearings, and case tracking is no longer optional but essential to a modern justice process.