By A Concerned Lawyer
My Lord,
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
The persistent lack of electricity at the Eti-Osa Magistrates’ Courts, Ajah, Lagos, has become an embarrassing obstacle to the administration of justice. What should ordinarily be a basic operational necessity has become a recurring nightmare for lawyers, litigants and judicial staff.
As at 9:42 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, 3 November, 2026, judicial administrative activities at the Magistrates’ Courts were practically paralysed!
Lawyers were stranded. Court processes could not be commissioned. Electronic filing was disrupted. Judicial staff were left struggling to discharge their responsibilities in offices without electricity.
And the reason? NO ELECTRICITY!
My Lord, this is neither a new development nor an isolated occurrence. It is a recurring challenge that has continued to undermine the smooth administration of justice at the Christopher Olatunde Segun Courthouse, Ajah.
ONE COURTHOUSE, TWO DIFFERENT REALITIES!
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this situation is the apparent disparity in the provision of alternative electricity within the same courthouse.
While the offices of the High Court Assistant Chief Registrar and Cashier reportedly enjoy solar-powered electricity, the Magistrates’ Courts and their administrative offices, including the Magistrates’ Court ACR’s office, Cashier’s office and even the ICT office responsible for electronic filing, are left without a functional alternative power supply.
The offices of the High Court Judges and their administrative units appear largely insulated from the hardship.
How can a courthouse operate two different standards of electricity provision under the same judicial administration?
Why should the Magistrates’ Courts, which handle a substantial volume of everyday disputes affecting ordinary citizens, be left struggling in darkness while other sections of the same courthouse enjoy alternative electricity?
Is justice at the Magistrates’ Courts less deserving of basic infrastructure?
E-FILING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY: A REFORM DEFEATED BY ITS OWN INFRASTRUCTURE!
The introduction of electronic filing was rightly celebrated as a progressive step towards improving efficiency, reducing delays and modernising judicial administration.
But what becomes of electronic filing when there is neither reliable electricity nor dependable internet connectivity?
A digital justice system without electricity is nothing more than an expensive promise!
Today, lawyers who came to file processes or have documents commissioned were left frustrated, not because they failed to comply with procedural requirements, but because the infrastructure required to facilitate compliance was unavailable.
Should lawyers and litigants continue to bear the consequences of infrastructural deficiencies beyond their control?
Perhaps the time has come for the Judiciary to seriously consider permitting manual filing whenever electricity or network failures make electronic filing impracticable.
Technology should facilitate justice, not become another obstacle to accessing it.
WHERE IS THE PRIORITY IN JUDICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE?
My Lord, the questions being asked by lawyers and litigants this morning deserve answers.
How are resources allocated for the maintenance and operation of our courthouses?
Why has a sustainable alternative electricity arrangement not been extended to the Magistrates’ Courts and their essential administrative offices?
What explains the apparent disparity between the facilities available to the High Court and those available to the Magistrates’ Courts within the same premises?
And, most importantly, how much longer must litigants, lawyers and judicial staff endure these avoidable disruptions before decisive action is taken?
These questions are not intended to diminish the commendable efforts of the Lagos State Judiciary towards judicial reform. Rather, they underscore the urgent need to ensure that those reforms translate into practical improvements across all levels of the court system.
OUR HUMBLE APPEAL TO THE CHIEF JUDGE
My Lord, we respectfully call for your urgent intervention to address this recurring embarrassment.
We appeal for an immediate assessment of electricity infrastructure at the Ajah Courthouse, particularly the Magistrates’ Courts, Registry, Cashier’s office and ICT unit.
We further urge the Judiciary to ensure equitable access to available alternative electricity facilities, provide a sustainable backup power arrangement and establish a workable contingency for manual filing whenever electronic filing becomes impossible.
Justice must not be held hostage by darkness, poor connectivity or infrastructural neglect.
The Magistrates’ Courts are often the first point of contact between ordinary citizens and the justice system. Their effective functioning should therefore be treated as a priority, not an afterthought.
My Lord, Lagos State prides itself on being a leading centre of judicial innovation and technological advancement in Nigeria. The conditions prevailing at the Eti-Osa Magistrates’ Courts this morning are difficult to reconcile with that reputation.
A courthouse should be a place where justice is dispensed, not where lawyers and litigants gather helplessly, waiting for electricity before justice can move forward.
We trust that Your Lordship will give this matter the urgent attention it deserves.
THE LIGHTS MUST COME ON AT THE ETI-OSA MAGISTRATES’ COURTS!
Respectfully submitted,
A Concerned Lawyer writes from Ajah
