A sworn statement typed into a portal, not signed on paper in front of a commissioner, can still hold up in court. Here is the law that made that possible.
The short answer
Since the Evidence (Amendment) Act, 2023 amended the law, an e-affidavit is valid evidence in Nigeria, provided it follows the same rules that make any affidavit valid.
What section 108(2) actually changed
Section 108(2) lets an affidavit deposed to electronically before an authorised person be filed and recognised in court. Before this amendment, the law was written with a paper-based process in mind.
The change does not lower the bar for what makes an affidavit valid. It extends the same standard to a new format.
What sections 109 and 110 add
Sections 109 and 110 cover how an affidavit is sworn, whether in person or through audio-visual means. This is what lets a portal-based oath, taken through a screen rather than face to face, still count.
Together, these sections are the legal backbone behind the state and federal e-affidavit portals covered elsewhere in this series.
Why this matters beyond the portals themselves
A bank, employer or agency that questions whether an electronic affidavit is "real" is really asking whether the law backs it. It does, as long as an authorised person took the oath and the process followed the amended Act.
This is separate from the question of who counts as an authorised person in the first place. Under the Oaths Act, a commissioner for oaths, a notary public, or a judge of the Federal High Court or a higher court can take an affidavit, whether it is sworn on paper or through a portal. Our guide to who can take an affidavit covers that list in full.
What it does not do
The amendment does not replace every paper requirement everywhere. Some agencies and processes may still expect a physical document for their own internal reasons, separate from what the law itself requires.
If in doubt, ask the specific institution requesting your affidavit whether it accepts an electronic one, rather than assuming the law alone settles the question for their internal process.
The same caution applies to who signs it off. Confirming a notary public is genuinely registered, at notary.gov.ng, is a separate but related check worth making.
Common mistakes
- Assuming any digital document is a valid affidavit. It still needs to be sworn before someone authorised to take one.
- Confusing the law with a specific portal's rules. The Evidence Act is the legal foundation; each portal adds its own process on top.
- Assuming an institution must accept an e-affidavit. The law makes it valid; an individual institution's own policy can still ask for something specific.
Our courts and affidavits hub links the rest of this series, and where and how affidavits work covers the practical side. A vetted partner firm can prepare and file an affidavit of loss once you know your affidavit will be accepted.