The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) has appointed leading senior lawyer and human rights advocate, Mr. Emeka Nwadioke as the Chairman of the Electoral Committee to midwife the next leadership for the Section. NBA-SPIDEL is one of only three NBA sections.
The elections would be held on Friday during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the section, drawing the curtains on its 2023 Annual Conference and the three-year regime of fiery human rights activist and NBA-SPIDEL Council Chairman, Dr. Monday Ubani.
In a statement by Dr. Monday Ubani and NBA-SPIDEL Council Secretary, Dr. Princess Frank-Chukwuani also named Chief Kola Omotinugbon as the Committee’s Secretary. Other members of the Committee are Charity Ibezim as well as Messrs Abdullahi Musa Karaye and Francis Ogunbowale.
A Notary Public for Nigeria and current treasurer of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Nigeria Branch), Nwadioke has served the Nigerian Bar in several roles including being a member of the NBA Criminal Justice Reform Committee; member, Local Organising Committee (LOC), NBA Annual General Conference (2017); Publicity Secretary, NBA Lagos Branch; Ex-Officio Member, NBA Lagos Branch and Chairman, Police Duty Solicitors Scheme (PDSS), NBA Lagos Branch.
Nwadioke was a member of the legal team that represented NBA in the highly contentious “SCUML Case” (Registered Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v Attorney-General of the Federation and Central Bank of Nigeria), a strategic litigation lawsuit by the bar association challenging Nigeria’s money laundering law.
He is a former banker and award-winning journalist, Nwadioke was in 1999 appointed by Nigeria’s President as a member of the National Y2K Committee saddled with containing the millennium bug.
Nwadioke has a strong pro bono practice, and has successfully defended several indigent detainees in criminal trials. He is also a member of several lawyers’ networks working at fostering access to justice, including Capital Defence Lawyers Network, Coalition of Lawyers for Press Freedom, and Freedom of Information (FOI) Legal Response Network. He has also been involved in campaigns on petty offences and humane treatment of indigent drug arrestees.
According to the press statement made available to journalists on Friday, the Committee has the mandate to conduct the election of the Section, leading to the emergence of a new team to spearhead its activities following Ubani’s vibrant administration.
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