Corporate Criminal Liability in Nigeria: Towards a New Doctrinal Framework Beyond the Identification Principle

The attribution of criminal liability to corporations in Nigeria relies predominantly on the identification principle, which requires that the mental element of an offence be established in a natural person who constitutes the directing mind and will of the company. This doctrine, inherited from English common law and progressively abandoned in many comparable jurisdictions, creates significant obstacles to the effective prosecution of corporate crime in Nigeria, particularly in large, complex organisations where decision-making authority is diffuse and criminal conduct may be systemic rather than individually directed. This doctoral research constructs an original doctrinal framework for corporate criminal liability in Nigeria that transcends the limitations of the identification principle, making a foundational contribution to Nigerian criminal law scholarship. An extended doctrinal methodology is employed, combining systematic analysis of Nigerian corporate criminal cases with comparative study of liability models from the United States, Australia, France, and the United Kingdom. The theoretical framework draws on organisational theory, corporate governance scholarship, and criminal law philosophy. Secondary sources include corporate crime literature, white-collar criminology, and comparative criminal law scholarship from 2017 to 2024. Primary data was gathered through interviews with EFCC corporate crime prosecutors, criminal law academics, and corporate governance experts. The research makes three original scholarly contributions: a systematic doctrinal critique of identification principle application in Nigerian courts; an original Organisational Fault Model for corporate criminal liability in Nigeria; and proposed amendments to the Criminal Law of Lagos State and CAMA 2020 to operationalise the new framework. Keywords: corporate criminal liability, identification principle, organisational fault, criminal law reform, Nigeria.