The Otu Oka-Iwu (Law Society) has announced prominent good governance activist, Professor Pat Utomi as the Keynote Speaker at its 2026 End-of-Year Dinner scheduled to hold at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, on Saturday, 5th December, 2026.

According to a statement by Mr. Emeka Nwadioke, Chairman of the Media & Publicity Sub-Committee of the End-of-Year Planning Committee (CPC), “The choice of Prof. Utomi as the Keynote Speaker for this epochal event was unanimous.”

While Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, adjudged as a shining example for good governance, is the Special Guest of Honour, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, is the Royal Father of the Day. Fiery lawmaker, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is the Chairman of the Occasion.

The End-of-Year Dinner remains one of the cherished traditions of the Otu — a special evening set aside to network, celebrate the year that has been, and renew the bonds of friendship, fraternity and service that have held the over 40 year-old association together over the years.

The 2026 End-of-Year Dinner Planning Committee led by Lady Nneka Chris Asoluka has curated activities to celebrate distinguished members of the association whose leadership, goodwill and commitment have been pivotal to the association.

Prof. Utomi is evidently one of Nigeria’s most sought after public speakers, given his rising profile as a foremost good governance and accountability advocate.

His eagerly awaited keynote address is expected to touch on sundry issues that impact the Nigerian polity.

Utomi is a Nigerian political economist, management expert, public intellectual and former presidential candidate, with a career spanning government, business, academia and opposition politics.

He studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1977, and later earned an MA, MPA and PhD from Indiana University in the United States.

He entered national life as a young Special Assistant, later Political Adviser, to President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic, a position he lost in the aftermath of the 1983 military coup.

From government, he moved to Volkswagen Nigeria, where he rose to Chief Operating Officer, before becoming a founding lecturer and director of Lagos Business School, later co-founding the school and Pan-Atlantic University.

Utomi served as Professor of Political Economy and Management at Lagos Business School. He also founded and leads the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL).

His political career includes two presidential candidacies, in 2007 and 2011, under the African Democratic Congress and the Social Democratic Mega Party respectively. In 2023 he supported Peter Obi, then the Labour Party candidate.

The defining episode of his recent public life came in 2025. On 5 May 2025 he launched the “Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government,” presenting it as an opposition platform to President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The Department of State Services sued, and on 29 September, 2025, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja declared the concept unconstitutional and incompatible with Nigeria’s presidential system. The court restrained Utomi from proceeding with the initiative.

Undaunted, Utomi has however remained a vocal critic of the ruling All Progressives Congress and a voice for the voiceless.