JusticeTechNG 2025, Nigeria’s inaugural national hackathon and accelerator program focused on justice innovation, has announced the ten winning startups of its second round. This ambitious initiative, spearheaded by the Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform and ICT/Digital and Innovative Technology, Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, aims to revolutionize Nigeria’s justice system by leveraging technology to address persistent challenges. The program seeks to foster collaborative digital solutions to improve efficiency, accessibility, and transparency within the justice sector. From a pool of over 80 submissions, these ten startups were meticulously selected based on their relevance to current issues, eligibility criteria, and potential for impactful innovation.
The selected startups represent a diverse range of solutions targeting critical areas within the justice system. These include enhancing access to legal aid, streamlining court administration processes, developing innovative crime prevention strategies, facilitating successful prison reintegration, providing digital legal education resources, and promoting greater transparency within the justice sector. The specific innovations brought forth encompass tools designed to increase rights awareness among citizens, digital court filing systems to modernize and expedite legal proceedings, comprehensive legal data platforms for enhanced research and analysis, and targeted solutions focused on improving justice access for vulnerable populations such as women, children, and other marginalized groups.
The program, structured in phases, commenced with a rigorous three-day hackathon held in Lagos from June 3rd to 5th, 2025. Following this intensive collaborative period, the program transitioned into a four-week accelerator phase running from June 10th to July 10th. During this crucial phase, the ten winning startups will receive comprehensive support, including expert mentorship, specialized technical assistance, and invaluable exposure to relevant policy frameworks. This multifaceted support system is designed to equip the startups with the necessary resources and guidance to refine their solutions and prepare for scaled implementation. The program culminates in a Demo Day, where the finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their refined solutions to a distinguished panel of judges comprising government officials, potential investors, and legal experts.
A substantial prize pool of ₦22 million is at stake, offering not only crucial seed funding but also invaluable opportunities for pilot implementation in partnership with government agencies and civil society organizations. The prize breakdown awards ₦10 million to the first-place team, comprised of ₦5 million in cash and ₦5 million in services, ₦7 million to the second-place team, and ₦5 million to the third-place team. This financial backing and the potential for real-world implementation will provide significant leverage for the winning startups to scale their solutions and achieve meaningful impact within the Nigerian justice system.
The JusticeTechNG 2025 program has garnered significant support from prominent figures within the Nigerian justice sector. Justice Kashim Zannah, the Chief Judge of Borno State and Chair of the Judiciary Information Technology Committee of the National Judicial Council, emphasized the critical need to leverage technology to bridge the access gap in Nigeria’s justice system, echoing the program’s core mission. He lauded the initiative as a timely and necessary step towards digitizing judicial processes and ensuring more efficient and equitable justice delivery. This sentiment reflects a growing momentum within the Nigerian justice sector to embrace digital innovation as a catalyst for institutional reform and enhanced service delivery.
Furthermore, the program benefits from the guidance of a high-level Advisory Board composed of leaders from the judiciary, academia, the civic tech community, legal practice, and various public sector institutions. Abiola Jimoh, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Xchange Box, underscored the significance of the Advisory Board in providing strategic direction and lending credibility to the program. He emphasized that JusticeTechNG 2025 transcends a mere hackathon; it represents a concerted national effort to cultivate a pipeline of scalable solutions rigorously tested, adopted, and scaled by justice institutions across the country. This comprehensive approach, combining technological innovation with institutional support, seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of the program’s outcomes. The Chair of the Multidisciplinary Committee echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the challenges inherent in building a successful business and encouraging participants to embrace perseverance and dedication. The program organizers expressed excitement about the quality of applications received and reiterated their commitment to supporting the top teams in scaling their solutions to effect meaningful change within the justice sector. Representatives from the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, also praised the initiative, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the courts and welcoming the potential for these technologies to transform the justice system and improve its accessibility for all Nigerians. Finally, legal practitioners like Mr. Faruq Abass, Managing Partner at Abass & Co, highlighted the importance of developing scalable, user-friendly solutions capable of addressing existing challenges such as delays in judgment delivery and limited access to court documents and rulings. This collective support and emphasis on practicality underscore the potential of JusticeTechNG 2025 to drive significant and lasting improvements within the Nigerian Justice system.
