The 2026 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) will feature a high-level discussion on advancing human rights and public interest through strategic litigation, advocacy and effective service delivery, bringing together distinguished legal practitioners and human rights experts from across different jurisdictions.
The session, designated Session 7, is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, 2026, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Umuahia.
Titled “Advancing Human Rights and Public Interest Through Strategic Litigation, Advocacy and Service Delivery,” the session will examine the role of legal practitioners, institutions and advocacy organisations in strengthening human rights protection and promoting access to justice.
The session will feature special remarks by Natalie McCauley, Chief, Child Protection Section, UNICEF, while the panel will comprise notable personalities with extensive experience in law, human rights advocacy and public interest litigation.
Among the panellists is Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN, Legal Adviser to the President of the Senate, former Chairman of NBA-SPIDEL and Second National Vice President of the NBA. Others include Chief Executive Officer of the Pan Africa Lawyers Union (PALU), Donald Deya; Kunle Edun, SAN, former National Publicity Secretary of the NBA and former Chairman of the NBA-SPIDEL Litigation Committee; John Aikpokpo Martins, former First Vice President of the NBA and former SPIDEL Chair; and Ikechukwu Uzoma, Senior Staff Attorney at the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Centre, Texas, USA.
The session will be chaired by Professor Oguagua Victoria Ikpeze, Professor of Human Rights and former Dean of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
The discussion is expected to provide an important platform for examining how strategic litigation, sustained advocacy and effective service delivery can be deployed to address human rights violations, strengthen democratic institutions and advance the protection of fundamental freedoms.
With the participation of experienced legal minds and international human rights advocates, the session promises insightful contributions on the evolving place of public interest law in promoting accountability, ensuring justice and protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals and communities.
The engagement forms part of the broader conversations at the 2026 NBA-SPIDEL Annual Conference, holding from November 9 to 13, 2026, under the theme “In Public Interest: Advancing Justice, Democracy and Development.”
Registration for the conference is available at www.app.nbaspidel.ng