The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) has unveiled a distinguished panel of legal practitioners, human rights advocates and international experts to examine the role of strategic litigation, advocacy and service delivery in advancing human rights and protecting the public interest at its 2026 Annual Conference in Umuahia, Abia State.
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The discussion, designated Session 7, is titled “Advancing Human Rights & Public Interest Through Strategic Litigation, Advocacy & Service Delivery” and will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Umuahia.
The session forms part of the NBA-SPIDEL 2026 Annual Conference, scheduled for November 9 to 13, 2026, under the theme “In Public Interest: Advancing Justice, Democracy and Development.”
The session will bring together legal professionals and human rights practitioners with experience in public interest litigation, institutional advocacy and the protection of fundamental rights.
Professor Ogugua Victoria Ikpeze, Professor of Human Rights and former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, will chair the discussion.
Natalie McCauley, Chief of the Child Protection Section at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will deliver special remarks.
The panel will feature Donald Deya, Chief Executive Officer of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Tanzania, who will bring his experience in continental legal advocacy and human rights protection to the discussion.
Also participating is Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN, Legal Adviser to the President of the Senate, former Chairman of NBA-SPIDEL and former Second National Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Ubani, a legal practitioner with experience in public interest advocacy, will join other panellists in examining the use of legal processes and advocacy to address human rights concerns.
Another panellist is Kunle Edun, SAN, of Kunle Edun Legal, who previously served as National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association and Chairman of the NBA-SPIDEL Litigation Committee.
Edun’s participation will provide an opportunity to examine the place of litigation in promoting accountability, defending citizens’ rights and protecting the public interest.
Also listed as a panellist is John Aikpokpo Martins, former First Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association and former Chairman of NBA-SPIDEL.
Martins joins the session alongside Ikechukwu Uzoma, Senior Staff Attorney at the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Centre in Texas, United States of America.
The participation of Uzoma and Deya introduces international and continental perspectives to the discussion, reflecting the importance of cooperation and shared experience in addressing human rights challenges.
The session is expected to examine how strategic litigation can be deployed to protect fundamental rights, challenge unlawful conduct and promote accountability through judicial processes.
It will also focus on the relationship between litigation and advocacy, particularly how legal interventions can be supported by broader efforts to strengthen institutions, influence public policy and promote access to justice.
The inclusion of service delivery in the session’s title further highlights the importance of translating legal advocacy and human rights protection into practical benefits for individuals and communities.
With the participation of experienced Nigerian legal practitioners, a continental lawyers’ organisation, UNICEF and an international human rights institution, the discussion will provide a platform for exchanging professional experiences and approaches to public interest law.
The session is also expected to contribute to the wider objectives of the NBA-SPIDEL Annual Conference, which seeks to advance conversations on justice, democracy, development and the responsibilities of legal practitioners in protecting the public interest.
The 2026 conference will bring together lawyers, judicial stakeholders, human rights advocates and other participants for discussions on legal and developmental issues under its central theme.
The strategic litigation session is scheduled for the morning of November 10 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.
Interested participants can register for the conference through the official registration portal at www.app.nbaspidel.ng.
The conference’s designated hashtags are #umuahia2026 and #nbaspidel.
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