El-rufai challenges lawyers to act as agent of reform
Former Kaduna State Governor and chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has criticised the failure of Nigeria’s post-2007 leadership to sustain national progress and challenged legal professionals to act as agents of reform amid ongoing national turbulence.
Speaking as keynote speaker at the 2025 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari Branch, El-Rufai declared that Nigeria was once again at a “critical inflection point” in its history, comparable to the opportunity the nation had in 2007 — an opportunity he said was “squandered.”
“It is my humble opinion that the last one our nation experienced (and squandered) was in 2007 when Nigeria was largely free of foreign debt, had more than $40bn as net (not gross) foreign reserves, and nearly $30bn in the Excess Crude Account,” he said.
“Tragically, Obasanjo’s hand-picked successors were unable to manage what was bequeathed to them and it has been mostly downhill since then.”
Delivering the keynote titled “Lawyers as Agents of Change: Navigating Economic Reforms, Judicial Policy and Contemporary Issues,” El-Rufai urged lawyers to step up as “custodians of conscience” and push back against systemic failures, particularly within the judiciary.
“In Nigeria, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between law and justice. Not only is justice wanting but the law that is administered seems to be according to the wishes of the Executive,” he stated.
“The demand on you, as practitioners in the Temple of Justice is a sober introspection as you contemplate whether indeed Justitia is blind and whether she holds the scales of justice in fine balance.”
Referencing cases such as Alkamawa v. Bello and Okocha v. The State, El-Rufai highlighted the erosion of public trust due to judicial inefficiencies, ex parte orders, and “forum shopping.”
He noted:
“The rise in ‘forum shopping,’ the weaponisation of ex parte orders in political matters, and the growing perception that justice is for sale and available only to the rich and the powerful would cause the perceptive observer to conclude that what Nigerian courts do is the administration of law and not the administration of justice.”
El-Rufai cited historical interventions by the judiciary that strengthened democracy — particularly the Uwais-led Supreme Court’s reversal of the impeachments of Peter Obi and Joshua Dariye — and said “all eyes” are now on the Kekere-Ekun court regarding the legality of President Tinubu’s recent actions under a state of emergency.
“Many informed Nigerians are also curious to know whether two-thirds of all the members of the National Assembly can be decided without a division and physical count – but through voice votes as the Akpabio and Abbas-led chambers did with such arrogant disregard for common sense!”
The former FCT Minister also stressed that lawyers are central to the success of economic reforms, citing his tenure at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the restructuring of the FCT.
He recalled:
“It took a comprehensive review of the FCT Act undertaken by lawyers and an Executive Order, comprehensively drafted by lawyers like Eyo Ekpo and Jimi Lawal… to sweep away the Ministry [of FCT]… and restore the FCDA to its rightful position.”
On the electricity sector, El-Rufai praised the constitutional amendment that enabled subnational electricity markets, arguing that legal expertise was key to unlocking Nigeria’s power potential.
“Rather than a time-wasting wholesale re-write of the Senate Bill, a team of lawyers instead came up with the idea of adding Section 2 subsection (2)(c)…”
Concluding, El-Rufai urged legal professionals to go beyond legalism and become change agents:
“Lawyers—more than any other group—must stand as custodians of conscience and agents of accountable change.”
