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By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives has thrown its weight behind Professor Dapo Akande, the Nigerian-born candidate nominated by the United Kingdom for election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the 2027–2036 term.

The endorsement was announced on Wednesday by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, during a courtesy visit by Professor Akande and officials from the British High Commission to the National Assembly in Abuja.

Kalu described the visit as significant, underscoring both national pride and Nigeria’s place within the international legal community.

“As Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is my honour to receive Professor Akande and to say clearly, as a Nigerian and as a parliamentarian, that his candidacy for the International Court of Justice for the term 2027 to 2036 is one that commands the admiration and personal support of this House,” he said.

He characterised the United Kingdom’s nomination as “not symbolic” but “structural recognition of a shared legal destiny,” arguing that Africa’s representation at the world’s highest judicial body was a matter of fairness.

“The United Kingdom has done something worthy of acknowledgement in nominating you. The FCDO committed £135 million in bilateral support to Nigeria in 2025 and 2026, according to its own Annual Report, and in November 2024 our two nations signed a Strategic Partnership built on six pillars of cooperation.

“Against that backdrop, the nomination of a Nigerian-born scholar to the world’s highest judicial bench is not symbolic. It is structural recognition of a shared legal destiny.

“Africa’s presence on the world’s highest bench is not a matter of sentiment. It is a matter of justice. And in this House, we have always believed that justice delayed is not merely a legal failure. It is a moral one”, he added.

Kalu, who holds a doctorate in law, reflected on Akande’s academic and professional journey, noting his roots in Nigeria and rise to global prominence.

“This is not merely a courtesy visit. It is the meeting of two worlds that should never be kept apart: the legislative and the adjudicative, Nigeria at home and Nigeria at its finest abroad.

“Everything you have become, from the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at All Souls College Oxford, to counsel before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, to elected member of the UN International Law Commission, and co-author of Oppenheim’s International Law awarded the American Society of International Law’s Certificate of Merit, all of it began in Ibadan. It began with an LLB at Obafemi Awolowo University and a call to the Nigerian Bar. You carry more flags than you perhaps know, and this House receives you proudly as a son of the soil.

“The 2021 Census for England and Wales counted over 270,000 Nigerian-born residents in the United Kingdom, and according to the UK Office for National Statistics, Nigeria was the second-largest source of long-term migrants to Britain in 2024, second only to India.

“Professor Akande, your candidacy speaks to every single one of those 270,000 people. It tells them that excellence forged in Nigeria travels, and when it arrives, the world takes note”, he stated.

The Deputy Speaker also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for deepening Nigeria’s diplomatic engagement and expressed confidence that Akande’s candidacy would succeed.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has made institutional strengthening the cornerstone of its governance agenda. The legislature is aligned. And we understand, better than most, that no domestic reform is sustainable without an international legal order that holds.

“I commend the Tinubu-led administration and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs for championing Nigeria’s representation at the highest levels of international justice.

“Nigeria has a proud history at the ICJ, and that history must continue. I charge our government to deploy the full weight of our diplomatic relationships; our bilateral ties, our African Union standing, our ECOWAS leadership, and our voice in the UN General Assembly, in pursuit of that goal.

“When the world looks at the candidates before it, it will find in Professor Dapo Akande, a scholar formed in Nigeria and carrying the endorsement of one of the world’s most consequential democracies. Nigeria looks at that with pride. And we trust that the members of the General Assembly will look at it with the seriousness it deserves”, he asserted. 

Kalu further urged the nominee to uphold the highest standards of justice if elected to the ICJ bench.

“Professor, should you take your seat on that bench, and I have every confidence that you can, you will arrive at one of the most consequential moments in the Court’s history. The ICJ’s current docket is the fullest in its history.

“Research published by Chatham House found that a fifth of all cases ever brought before the Court were filed in the last four years alone, a historic surge driven overwhelmingly by questions of genocide, armed conflict, and occupation. And yet enforcement remains uneven, and that gap falls hardest on Africa.

“West Africa is experiencing one of its most destabilising decades since independence. This is where law becomes real, because when institutions fail to enforce norms, the legitimacy of those norms begins to erode. Africa does not merely need judges. It needs judges who understand that law is not description. It is protection.

“Double standards in international justice are not theoretical criticisms. They are compliance risks. They weaken treaty regimes, undermine cooperation, and erode trust in multilateralism itself. What you bring to that bench, having argued for Nigeria, for Uganda, for the United Kingdom, for Japan, for Equatorial Guinea, and for Zambia, and having advised the African Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and ASEAN, is not merely diversity of experience. It is convergence of legitimacy. No party can claim you do not understand their position. That is not a small thing. That is the whole thing,” Kalu said.

Earlier, Professor Akande said he was in Nigeria to formally seek the country’s backing for his candidacy.

He praised Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law at both national and international levels, as well as the efforts of parliament to strengthen constitutional democracy. He assured lawmakers that, if elected, he would work to further deepen the rule of law globally.

The endorsement marks a significant diplomatic gesture, as Nigeria positions itself to rally support for one of its own on the international stage.