The Federal High Court has launched its electronic filing (e-filing) platform at the Lagos Division.
In a statement on Thursday, the Chief Registrar of the Court, Sulaiman Amida Hassan, said the initiative will take effect from Monday, June 23, 2025.
Hassan also stated that the Lagos division will cease to accept manually filed cases from Friday, June 20, 2025.
The statement also clarified that pending matters instituted before the digital switchover would continue to be processed using the manual filing system.
The statement reads in parts, “It is to be noted that all cases instituted prior to the go-live date shall continue to be processed manually until judgment is delivered and those matters finally disposed of.
“Any lawyer who, either deliberately or inadvertently, understates the amount claimed or incorrectly declares the number or type of documents filed, thereby causing an under-assessment of prescribed fees, shall be liable to pay the balance due together with a penalty in the sum of ten thousand naira (₦10,000) for each filing.
“To ensure a seamless transition, all legal practitioners are required to obtain their Legal Mail accounts before the go-live date, as possession of a Legal Mail address is a mandatory prerequisite for access to the e-filing platform,” it stated.
Lawyers have been directed to apply for their official legal mail accounts via the Nigerian Bar Association’s portal at https://nigerianbar.ng.
“Documents that require an oath must be submitted to the Court via the e-affidavit platform (https://affidavit.courts.gov.ng) and the deponent must appear before the Commissioner for Oaths for the administration of the oath,” the Registrar stated.
“It shall be necessary for each Law Chamber to upload all relevant documents relating to its registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on the e-filing platform while creating the Chambers’ profile,” the court noted.
“Instructional videos providing detailed guidance on the use of the e-filing platform are available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@JITPO-com, and these materials shall also be circulated via the Lawyers’ WhatsApp platform,” the statement read.
The court also announced plans to host a two-day interactive session between June 16 and June 20, 2025.
“The precise date, time and venue shall be communicated in due course,” the statement concluded.