“Mend Gaps Without Fuss” — Gadzama SAN Advises Feuding NBA Blocs, Says SPIDEL Acted Within Law

frontline senior advocate Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama has waded into the reported dispute between the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President and the leadership of the NBA’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL).

Reacting to the controversy, the pioneer Chairman of SPIDEL remarked that the disagreement was unnecessary as SPIDEL plays a strategic role in upholding the NBA’s motto of promoting the rule of law.

While noting that SPIDEL’s recent interventions focus on delivering public interest mandates that the Section was established for, Chief Gadzama clarified that SPIDEL is part and parcel of the NBA.

“What is required is synergy and harmonious implementation of the NBA objectives which SPIDEL can be described as pursuing presently through some of its interventions,” he said.

The senior advocate explained that although the NBA President could provide advisories, neither he nor National Officers have powers outside the National Executive Council (NEC) to stop SPIDEL from performing its constitutional duties.

He recalled that NEC had already sanctioned and approved actions undertaken by the current SPIDEL regime.

Chief Gadzama advised both parties to take reconciliatory steps in the interest of the legal profession and Nigerians. He noted that SPIDEL is the ligament between the legal profession and the public, particularly the oppressed.

The Life Bencher remarked that bureaucratic bottlenecks should not be allowed to inhibit a Section as critical as SPIDEL in carrying out its mandate. He called for an NBA-wide engagement on the issues raised.