Land disputes account for 30% of 27m cases yearly, CSO says

Citizens Gravel, a non-profit organisation, has said Nigeria has over 27.5 million legal problems with land disputes accounting for 30 per cent of the legal issues.

The organisation also revealed that no fewer than eight persons had legal problems yearly.

It said the alarming statistics suggested the establishment of specialised land courts with seasoned, retired judges to expedite the cases.

This was contained in an open letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who is the head of the National Justice Summit slated April 24 and 25.

Citizens Gavel Team Lead, Nelson Olanipekun, in the letter made available to journalists, yesterday, charged the AGF to use the summit to deliberate and map out solutions bedeviling the country’s legal system.

“Our data underscores the urgency of these reforms; Nigeria faces over 27.5 million legal problems (1 in 8 persons have legal problems) annually.

“The average case in the High Court takes approximately 938 days to conclude.- Public perception indicates that 92 per cent believe the judiciary is corrupt. A staggering 70 per cent of correctional facility populations are pre-trial detainees,” he said.

According to him, there should be a robust deployment of technology for digital case management systems, virtual court proceedings, and online dispute resolution, which could reduce case backlog and improve case handling efficiency.