Theoretical Reconstruction of Forensic Science Legitimacy Crisis: Implications for Nigerian Practice and Reform

Forensic science globally is navigating a legitimacy crisis catalysed by high-profile wrongful convictions, National Academy of Sciences critiques of pattern evidence disciplines, and the emergence of empirical validation science challenging longstanding forensic assumptions. This doctoral study theoretically reconstructs the forensic science legitimacy crisis and analyses its specific implications for Nigerian forensic practice, reform strategy, and institutional development. A critical theoretical research design was employed, conducting a systematic philosophical and sociological analysis of the forensic science legitimacy crisis literature, applying sociology of professions, science and technology studies, and institutional legitimacy theory to develop a Critical Forensic Legitimacy Framework, and validating the framework's explanatory and prescriptive utility through application to the Nigerian forensic science context via thirty elite interviews with senior forensic science practitioners, policymakers, and academics. The study theorises legitimacy as operating across three interdependent dimensions: cognitive legitimacy grounded in scientific validity, normative legitimacy grounded in ethical practice, and regulatory legitimacy grounded in institutional oversight. The Nigerian forensic science ecosystem is mapped against each dimension, identifying structural deficits and reform leverage points. Original theoretical contributions include the Critical Forensic Legitimacy Framework, a diagnostic legitimacy audit instrument applicable to national forensic systems, and a theory of legitimacy-led reform sequencing that prioritises cognitive and normative foundations before regulatory superstructure. The study provides a theoretically grounded strategic roadmap for forensic science reform in Nigeria, with transferable insights for other African jurisdictions. Keywords: forensic science legitimacy, theoretical framework, institutional reform, Nigeria, science and technology studies.