By Taibat Ummi Yakubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has challenged Nigeria’s judiciary to close loopholes in the justice system that allow influential individuals and organised crime suspects to frustrate prosecutions, warning that the fight against corruption cannot succeed without an independent and reform-driven Bench.
Tinubu delivered the message on Tuesday in Abuja through Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the 8th annual Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Judicial Institute (NJI) Capacity Building Workshop for Judges and Justices.
The President urged judicial officers to review existing laws and prosecution procedures to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated financial crimes, particularly those involving digital technology.
He called for a reassessment of prosecution strategies, the removal of outdated legal precedents and the closure of procedural gaps allegedly exploited by politically exposed persons and organised criminal groups to delay or derail trials.
According to him, economic and financial crimes threaten the country’s stability, while corruption affects every level of government and society, making it wrong to treat the anti-graft campaign as the responsibility of the executive alone.
Tinubu argued that compromised public institutions ultimately harm the executive, legislature, judiciary and ordinary Nigerians, insisting that tackling corruption requires a collective national commitment.
“We must no longer permit legal pyrotechnics and procedural pedantry to shelter criminality. The Bench is not merely a mechanical arbiter of rules, but an active guardian of moral order and social equity,” he said.
He further maintained that the law should serve the broader public interest rather than allow individuals to exploit technical arguments to escape accountability.
“Law is, by design, an instrument of social engineering; it must invariably prioritise the public good over narrow, selfish interests shielded by technical manoeuvres. Our courts must embody the spirit, and not just the arid letter, of the law,” Tinubu added.
The President said meaningful progress against corruption would remain difficult without an independent, progressive and reform-minded judiciary. He also commended the EFCC for organising the workshop, describing it as an important platform for strengthening the justice system’s response to evolving financial crimes.
The workshop, themed “Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Financial Crimes in a Digital Age,” focuses on challenges arising from the growing use of technology in criminal investigations and court proceedings.
Earlier, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, said the programme reflected the continued collaboration between the NJI and EFCC to address challenges facing institutions responsible for administering justice.
Kekere-Ekun noted that technological advances had changed how digital evidence is collected, preserved and presented in court, making effective case management increasingly important in criminal proceedings.
She stressed that handling cases in the digital era requires discipline and competence from judicial officers, adding that capacity-building initiatives such as the EFCC-NJI partnership were designed to strengthen those skills.
The CJN also said sustained judicial education and professional development had contributed to improvements in case management and the administration of justice in recent years.
The workshop comes amid growing demands for stronger institutional responses to financial crimes, with the President urging the judiciary to ensure that legal procedures uphold justice without becoming avenues for avoiding accountability.
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