Legal Personhood in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Theoretical Foundations for Nigerian Law

The deployment of sophisticated artificial intelligence systems capable of autonomous decision-making, creative output, and commercial interaction challenges foundational assumptions about legal personhood that underpin the Nigerian and common law legal systems. Existing legal categories of natural and juristic persons were developed without contemplation of artificial agents, yet AI systems are increasingly entering into contracts, generating intellectual property, and causing harm in ways that demand legal resolution. This doctoral research develops an original theoretical framework for legal personhood as applicable to artificial intelligence in the Nigerian legal context, contributing to a field that remains nascent in sub-Saharan African legal scholarship. A legal theory methodology is employed, drawing on analytical jurisprudence, philosophy of mind, comparative legal history, and the emerging international literature on AI governance law. Doctrinal analysis traces the development of corporate legal personality in Nigerian law and evaluates its theoretical extension to AI entities. Comparative analysis examines legislative developments in the European Union, China, and the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Secondary sources include AI ethics scholarship, legal philosophy texts, and emerging AI law publications from 2020 to 2024. The research makes original scholarly contributions through a novel Graduated Legal Personhood Theory for AI systems based on criteria of autonomy, accountability, and social integration, and through a proposed AI Legal Status Act for Nigeria. The normative analysis is grounded in African philosophical traditions of relational personhood. Keywords: legal personhood, artificial intelligence, jurisprudence, AI governance, Nigerian law.