AMADI

ACJA: NYESOM-WIKE, OCJ OKOCHA, RIVERS CJ SET FOR BOOK LAUNCH

Prominent Bar Leader and Director in the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Cordelia Eke will on Wednesday unveil her book on the criminal justice system titled “Administration of Criminal Justice in Nigeria: A Practical Guide.”

Billed to hold at the exquisite Nigerian Bar Association Port Harcourt Branch House by 1:00 pm, the public presentation and launch of the book will hold under the chairmanship of the 19th NBA President, Hon. O. C. J. Okocha SAN, with the Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor SAN as Chief Host.

The wife of the Rivers State Governor, Her Excellency, Hon. Justice Eberechi Suzette Nyesom-Wike is the Special Guest of Honour while the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Hon. Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi is expected to grace the occasion with members of the bench.

While legal practitioners and law students in advanced programmes are expected to participate in the public presentation and launch, the Book Reviewer is the erudite Nigerian Law School lecturer and prolific writer, Mr. Sylvester Udemezue.

The hybrid event will be preceded by a 10% discount on the cover price for those who pre-order the book online, via Sellar, before the launch date.

The book is a seminal contribution to the study and practice of criminal law in Nigeria. It is also a compass for persons outside the country who wish to navigate through the Nigerian criminal justice system and gain an understanding of how it operates. It is written from a practitioner’s perspective, and is aimed at identifying and addressing practical issues thrown up on a daily basis with a view to improving the level of criminal justice practice and equipping intending practitioners with the necessary tools to enable them have a seamless practice experience.

The author dissects the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and presents the topics in a reader-friendly manner, with anecdotes from actual courtroom experiences, statutory and judicial authorities, tips for lawyers and suggestions for reforms in certain cases. One of the highlights is the examination of the provisions concerning children in the criminal justice system, whether as victims or offenders.

According to the author, “With over 23 years experience in criminal prosecution and having shouldered various other responsibilities in the sector, I have seen good cases bungled by shoddy investigation by law enforcement agents, prosecutors losing their cases due to lack of attention to detail or non-compliance with the law, Legal Advice wrongly offered, and defence counsel that are unable to take advantage of opportunities in the interest of their clients because they are unaware of legal provisions in their favour. The judiciary is not left out either.”

Eke was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1995. She obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Public International Law from the University of Kent, Canterbury, in the United Kingdom and has practiced law both in the private and public sectors.

She has published several scholarly articles on the criminal justice system in authoritative peer-reviewed journals and was the Editor-in-Chief of the NBA SBL Business Law News Magazine (2007-2010) and the NBA Port Harcourt Branch BarNews (2006 – 2008). She was also the Editor of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) Nigeria, Rivers State Branch publication, “Handbook on Widows Rights in Nigeria.”

Eke was a resource person on ACJA at the NBA Annual General Conference (AGC) in 2017 and has presented papers on the subject at various seminars and workshops. She was a Council Member of the NBA Human Rights Institute; Chairman, Prosecution Manual Drafting Committee and Team Lead, Honorable Attorney-General’s Special Legal Advice Decongestion Committee, both in the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, among others. She is also a member of several professional organizations. She is married with children.

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  • EMEKA NWADIOKE
  • Jun 26, 2021
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  • Comments Off on SPIDEL APPOINTS FALANA, AMADI TO HEAD KEY GROUPS

SPIDEL APPOINTS FALANA, AMADI TO HEAD KEY GROUPS

The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) has appointed fiery human rights lawyers, Messrs Femi Falana SAN and Sam Amadi to head its two key groups.

Speaking at the recent NBA National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) Meeting in Abuja, the Chairman of SPIDEL Governing Council, Dr. Monday Ubani stated that the Section has two main objectives which are pursuit of public interest issues and development of legal framework for accelerated economic development in the country.

He informed NEC that the leadership has established two groups, namely The Public Interest Law Group and The Development Law Group for the Section, adding that there is a strong link between law and economic development. While The Public Interest Law Group will be chaired by Mr. Femi Falana SAN, The Development Law Group will be chaired by Dr. Sam Amadi. The membership of the two groups would be announced soon.

He stated that would soon “engage in aggressive membership drive across the entire branches of the Federation. Towards this end, we have laid out a plan to appoint Coordinators and Secretaries in all the branches of the NBA. The Coordinators and Secretaries will recruit and at the same maintain existing membership of the Section in their various branches. Their second task is to help SPIDEL realize its objectives at the grassroot level in the pursuit of citizens’ rights generally.”

According to Ubani, “Membership of the Section is critical to its activities and a fulfillment of our mapped out objectives. Already we have started with aggressive gospel that every lawyer with conscience must first and foremost be a registered member of SPIDEL.

“We therefore solicit that every lawyer of conscience should without any further prompting from us register and join all the suitable committees to help actualize our dream country and legal practice. We need you and the nation needs you more as a lawyer with conscience.”

He informed NEC that the Section has set up an operational office in Abuja and employed a Program Officer to man the office. This is to accelerate the institutionalization process of the Section. The Section has also established SPIDEL Young Lawyers’ Forum. This is part of the institutionalization process and mainstreaming of SPIDEL objectives in the consciousness of young lawyers. “We must consciously and strategically groom our young lawyers to take the legal profession to the next level,” he said.

The Chairman stated that SPIDEL would engage in strategic litigation to push the frontiers of public interest, adding that this would be in collaboration with other NBA Sections and Committees such as the Public Interest Litigation Committee. According to Ubani, the recent Practice Direction issued by the Federal High Court in favour of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a prospective litigant, “requires timely intervention by NBA as the only body that stands as a bulwark against oppression by any government in power.”

On the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria, the SPIDEL Chairman said that the Section is collaborating with the Public Interest Litigation Committee to seek legal reliefs, even as Ubani had in his personal capacity filed a lawsuit against the action.

He listed other thematic areas for the new SPIDEL leadership to include Niger Delta Development Project, Promoting the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Federalism Project, and 2023 General Election.

Ubani informed the meeting that NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata launched a human rights App at the just concluded NBA-SPIDEL Annual Conference in Ibadan code-named “SOROSOKE”. The App is to aid victims of human rights abuses in reporting and tracking such abuses. He said that SPIDEL members at the branch level “would be utilised effectively to seek reliefs on behalf of victims of human rights’ abuses throughout Nigeria.”

He stated that the Section held a successful election after its sold-out Annual Conference, commending members of the Conference Planning Committee which he led as well as the Local Organising Committee and NBA Ibadan Branch “for a job well done.” According to Ubani, the election “marked the end of the eventful tenure of Prof. Paul Ananaba SAN.”

The Council consists of Ubani as Chairman, Dr. Princess Chukwuani (Secretary), Mr. Steve Abah (Vice Chairman), and Ms. Funmi Adeogun (Treasurer). Other Council Members are Dr. Paul Ebiala, Mr. Emeka Nwadioke, Ms. Anne Agi, Chief Kunle Adegoke SAN, Mr. Kunle Edun, Mr. Abdullahi Karaye, Mrs. Igbeaku Evulukwu, Mr. Echo Godfrey, Mr. Kola Omotinugbon and Prof. Paul Ananaba SAN.

The report was received by Akpata. Meanwhile, some NEC members commended the new SPIDEL leadership for paying attention to the Development Law mandate of the Section as well as its resolve to appoint Coordinators at the branch level.

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