Court Activities Paralysed, As Ogun State Lawyers Boycott Proceedings

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Practicing lawyers in Ogun state on Monday July 6, 2026, commenced a three-day boycott of Court proceedings, with judicial activities severely paralysis, and litigants stranded.

The source reports that the legal practitioners are embarking on the boycott exercise to register their displeasure with  what they described as judicial policies inimical to their interests ,and practice.

Particularly, the lawyers are not comfortable with a new and obnoxious N100,000 fees being charged for virtual sittings, as well as the astronomical increase in the oath administration fee from N200 to N1,500.

The lawyers whose protests are being coordinated and enforced jointly by the Nigerian Bar Association NBA branches of Abeokuta ,Sagamu and Ota,are also angry with judicial authorities over what they perceive as undue restrictions place on lawyers in Ogun State.

The Abeokuta NBA chairman, Kayode Adeyemi who led the enforcement of the courts’ boycott in the capital city on Monday explained that the exercise is to drive home their unhappiness with certain policies introduced by the Ogun State Judiciary, which they view as being inimical to the interests of legal practitioners in the state.

“Some of the policies include: First, the payment of N100,000 virtual hearing fee. This means that any litigant who wishes to have a matter heard virtually must pay N100,000 for each virtual session.

“Second, the increase in the oath administration fee from N200 to over N1,500. Our clients have complained about this increase, and it has, also, affected legal practitioners who are constantly being questioned by their clients.

“Third, there is the issue of restrictions placed on lawyers . As it stands today, lawyers cannot process more than four witness oaths in a single day.

“The question then is : if I have 15 or more witnesses in  cases what happens? We believe this policy unjustifiably limits the ability of lawyers to carry out their professional duties”, Aderemi stated.

This is as he informed that the boycott of court proceedings became the last resort after several futile attempts to amicably resolve the issues with the authorities.

The NBA Chairman who expressed happiness with the high compliance level of the boycott, however, explained that the protest may have taken lawyers from outside the State off-guard.

But reacting to the development which left many litigants, lawyers from outside Ogun State, and other court users stranded, the Chief Registrar of the State High Court Olakulehin Oke, insisted that there were no pre-action notices from the NBA before embarking on the boycott.

According to him, contrary to the position of the Lawyers’ umbrella body, there were no recorded communications from the NBA in relation to its grievances, and the decision to withdraw their services.

However, he blamed the increase in some of the chargeable fees on the prevailing circumstances in the country.

“Technology comes with costs. Establishing, maintaining and operating virtual court facilities require significant investment.

” Since the introduction of these provisions, virtual court rooms have been installed in nine of the 11 judicial divisions in Ogun state, and more than 600 virtual hearings have been successfully conducted”, Oke explained.

He further noted that the new court hearing regime have so far benefitted many litigants.

According to Oke, since the commencement of the innovation, witnesses from Canada, the United States of America, USA , Australia and other foreign countries have testified from their various bases.

Similarly, the Chief Registrar emphasized that the increase in the oath administration fee was necessitated by certain digital reforms carried out within the system for the purpose of seamless operations.

He noted that the new system is not only applicable to Ogun state, but is in vogue in states like Ondo ,Rivers, Oyo, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

According to him, a comparative study will even reveal that the fees being charged in Ogun state are lower than in most of the aforementioned States which have keyed into the digitalized  arrangement.