Nigeria’s former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN will today deliver the Keynote Address at the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) Annual Conference.
The conference is holding at the world-class International Conference Centre (ICC), Umuahia, Abia State, themed “In Public Interest: Advancing Justice, Democracy and Development.” All delegates are to be seated by 8:30 am.
The Keynote Session is the highlight of the Opening Ceremony at which the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN; Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti; NBA President, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya SAN, and several past NBA Presidents among other public interest stakeholders are expected to deliver their addresses.
Osinbajo’s address will be interrogated by a formidable panel of respondents including Prof. Pat Utomi, founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL); Lisa Henry, Secretary-General of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT); and Associate Prof. Sam Amadi, Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought.
According to a statement by Mr. Emeka Nwadioke and Mr. Modestus Onyekwere MFR (alias KOK), Chairman and Alt. Chairman of the Media, Publicity & Publications Sub-committee, the
session will be chaired by retired Supreme Court jurist, Justice Suleiman Galadima.
The choice of respondents gives the keynote a broad public-interest lens. Utomi brings a political economy perspective to questions of governance and development; Henry’s work connects the debate to torture, detention and the protection of vulnerable people, while Amadi’s scholarship focuses on political institutions and democratic governance.
The keynote session is a major feature of a conference whose agenda includes access to justice, constitutionalism, public-interest litigation, policing, deaths in custody, detention oversight, corruption and terrorism financing.
NBA-SPIDEL Chair, Associate Prof. Uju Agomoh, has said the gathering must go beyond speeches and leave participants with practical proposals and commitments.
The Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Sir Ejike Ezenwa SAN said that the section’s position is that law cannot be detached from citizens’ everyday encounters with government, the courts, police and correctional institutions.
The conference holds from November 9 to 13, 2026, and kicked off yesterday with Welcome Cocktails hosted by senior lawyer, Mr. Ken Ahia SAN.
Fiery rights activist and former NBA Vice president, Dr. Monday Ubani SAN will today host a Variety Night for the delegates at the ICC.
The conference is hosted by Abia State Government in collaboration with NBA-SPIDEL.
For general information on the conference, please visit www.nbaspidel.ng