A crucial attraction of a democratic system is the wide array of inalienable rights it guarantees; such rights include the right to personal liberty and presumption of innocence of an accused person. However, the practical achievement and entrenchment of these rights is dependent upon certain essential tools and mechanisms. In the case of right to liberty and presumption of innocence, tools like bail, bail bond and sureties are of utmost importance to the criminal justice administration system if the rights are to be guaranteed. Troublingly, the general
populace’s perception or understanding of how these very important tools work under the law in Nigeria has been skewed for a while; a situation that requires clarification if the true dividends of democracy are to be realized. This paper seeks to clarify the misconceptions by examining the notion of bail, its history, its various types, the rights and obligations of sureties under the law, the recent
Honourable Senator Ali Ndume situation and concludes by proffering recommendations to improve the general bail administration in Nigeria.
Keywords: Bail, Bond, Sureties, Criminality, Liberty