Judicial Precedent

Nigeria is an entity made up of a conglomeration of different ethnic groups and cultures. The influence of the received English laws in the Nigerian legal system cannot be gainsaid. The continuous applications of erroneous decisions, which serves as precedent has resulted in the perpetuation of injustice, as well as retarded the application of better judgment of exceptionally qualified Judges. The question, therefore, is whether the Nigerian legal system ought to continue to persevere with the judicial precedent given its many rigidity and excesses. Therefore, the aim was to analyse the legitimacy of judicial precedent in Nigeria. The objectives among others were to determine whether or not the doctrine of judicial precedent is still relevant and sustainable for justice attainment in Nigeria given the attitude of courts towards it; also to assess the way forward to the challenges in the application of judicial precedent in Nigeria. Thus, doctrinal method of research was employed by relying on both primary and secondary sources for data collection from the physical and e-library. The book accordingly has captured its findings, solutions, recommendations and significance.