The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has decried the growing trend of excessive bail conditions imposed by courts and security agencies, saying the practice is turning bail into pretrial detention.
NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, said courts and agencies including the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) now regularly demand sureties who are senior civil servants on Grade Levels 16 or 17, plus landed property worth hundreds of millions of naira.
"These conditions have in many cases transformed bail from a mechanism for securing attendance at trial into a tool of pretrial detention," Osigwe said in a statement on Thursday.
He argued that such requirements undermine the constitutional right to personal liberty and the presumption of innocence.
Many accused persons granted bail remain in custody simply because they cannot meet terms that are "excessive, impractical and difficult to satisfy."
Citing the Supreme Court in Suleman & Anor v Commissioner of Police, Plateau State (2008), Osigwe said bail exists to secure attendance at court, not to punish or create insurmountable obstacles.
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He also referenced the Court of Appeal’s decision in Dasuki v Director-General, State Security Service & Ors_ (2019), where judges criticised forcing public officers to stand as sureties and questioning how a Grade Level 16 officer could realistically own N100m property.
Section 165(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 is clear, he added, that bail conditions must not be excessive even though courts have wide discretion.
Osigwe urged judges at all levels to ensure bail terms are "fair, reasonable, proportionate and attainable."
He called for an end to restricting sureties to senior civil servants, saying there is no evidence they are more reliable than other law-abiding citizens.
"Bail should not become a privilege reserved only for those with extraordinary means or connections. It must remain what the law intended it to be, a mechanism for securing attendance at trial while preserving the liberty and dignity of persons who have not been convicted," he said.
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