Legal Practitioners Bill 2025: Ripples over Tinubu’s reform proposals

2026-02-19 - 00:56

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA — On November 25, 2025, President Bola Tinubu took steps to initiate far-reaching reforms that will nearly overhaul the regulation of legal practice in the country. The proposed legislation, titled: The Legal Practitioners Bill 2025, which he transmitted to the Senate, seeks to repeal and re-enact the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (originally enacted in 1962). Aside from seeking to strengthen professional discipline by improving mechanisms for dealing with misconduct, the Bill introduced clearer licensing requirements not only to standardise who is authorised to practise law in Nigeria, but also to check the excesses of fake lawyers. In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu maintained that the extant regulatory structure had become outdated and incapable of responding to the evolving demands on legal practice at home and abroad. He said the proposed legislation introduced “a modern legal framework to strengthen the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria,” adding that “it will provide the necessary reforms that will enhance professional standards, disciplinary mechanisms, and public confidence in legal practice.” Referencing the need for a full legislative reset to ensure accountability and restore public trust in the justice system, the draft legislation floated the most sweeping regulatory changes the Bar has witnessed in more than six decades. However, this reform effort seems to have generated ripples with major misgivings about the bill, anchored on an alleged surreptitious attempt by the executive to hijack the legal profession. Some of the identified grey areas in the bill, which its antagonists insist deserves fine-tuning, include the proposal for a mandatory two-year pupillage for new lawyers, as well as the increase in