From Legal Remedy to Political Retort: A Pragmatic Acts Study of ‘Go to Court’ in Nigerian Media

This study examines the pragmatic imports of the recurrent catchphrase “go to court” within the Nigerian sociopolitical context. Drawing on Mey’s Pragmatic Acts Theory (2001) to analyse eight media excerpts selected from official statements, judicial commentaries, and institutional report sourced from major Nigerian news platforms. The data was coded using the five principles of Pragmatic Acts Theory - context as action, situated speech acts, pragmemes, textual and activity components, and the interaction between activity and context through which the study reveal how political and judicial actors deploy the phrase to deflect accountability, mask power asymmetries, and normalize impunity. Excerpts from public figures such as Senator Bulkachuwa, Justices Musa Dattijo and Kekere-Ekun expose internal contradictions in judicial integrity, while the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) report confirms public suspicions of transactional justice. The findings highlight how “go to court” functions as a discursive strategy that simultaneously deflects responsibility and normalizes impunity. The study is significant for its contribution to pragmatic discourse analysis, revealing how linguistic acts can reinforce or undermine institutional legitimacy. It provides critical insights for scholars, policymakers, and legal reform advocates seeking to restore public confidence in the judiciary and democratic processes in Nigeria.