At a special Supreme Court session on October 12, 2026, Ibrahim Gamdeh Adamu, SAN, spoke for 68 newly conferred Senior Advocates of Nigeria as the 2026/2027 legal year opened.
Adamu said more than 13,000 legal practitioners were enrolled in Nigeria between February and July 2026. In 1981, when he entered the profession, 501 people were called to the Bar. He warned the Court that the pace of growth was lowering standards and said the profession was “mass producing legal practitioners.”
A June 2026 Afrobarometer survey cited in coverage of the new legal year found that only 25% of Nigerians surveyed said they trusted the courts somewhat or a lot.
Adamu presses for tighter entry rules
Adamu wants stricter accreditation of university law faculties and stronger discipline in student admissions. He also called for an examination before entry to the Nigerian Law School. He said it was time to consider making law a second degree.
He proposed at least two years of mandatory internship for newly admitted lawyers before they could be licensed to establish law firms. Adamu said the requirement would help standardise and upgrade legal practice.
The Supreme Court began implementing the Nigerian Case Management System on July 1, 2026, alongside Practice Directions 2026. The directions require electronic filing of court documents, appeal records and other case materials.
Entry controls would come as students and families face the cost of professional training. In January 2026, Olugbemisola Titilayo Odusote became the first woman to lead the Nigerian Law School since its establishment. Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris separately approved ₦63.65 million to cover registration fees for 67 Nigerian Law School students in the 2025/2026 academic year.
Conference remarks put working conditions in focus
Adamu linked his call for introspection to comments by a guest at the NBA’s 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt. He said the guest, whom he described as having barely a secondary school certificate, questioned whether law remained a noble profession. The guest also said some graduates ended up “selling their certificates”.
“These remarks hurt me as a member of the legal profession, but there is some truth in what he has said, which calls for introspection,” Adamu told the Court.
Nigerian Bar Association president Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, has also described the pressure on young lawyers. Some return to chambers where their pay cannot cover the basic costs of going to work, she said. She called salaries that fail to meet the cost of working and living “tantamount to modern day slavery.”
The Guardian Nigeria reported that her administration’s priorities include better earnings and welfare. Its policy statement sums them up as “earn better, live better and practise better” in the NBA president’s policy statement.
On October 12, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi urged reforms to make lawyer-discipline proceedings faster and more transparent. As reported by PUNCH, he voiced particular concern about rising complaints involving younger lawyers.
