The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the NBA Special Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), Steve Adehi (SAN) has revealed that the Nigerian Bar Association had yet to withdraw its suit instituted against the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite.
Recall that the legal offensive was initiated owing to an Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) agreement signed in February which aims at boosting trade and investment between the United Kingdom (UK) and Nigeria.
Speaking at the 2024 Annual Conference of the NBA, while addressing the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the section held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, the SAN stated that although the Minister had clarified that Nigeria does not have a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the UK to allow its lawyers to practice in Nigeria, he contended that the agreement with the UK was not in the interest of Nigerian lawyers.
He said: "The court case against the Minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment is still in court. It is not among the cases withdrawn from the courts.
“The matter is still in court, and it is being handled by one of our Senior Advocates on behalf of SPIDEL, and we will follow it to its logical conclusion.”
Adehi (SAN) insisted that when they took over, they reviewed all cases inherited from their predecessors and decided to discontinue some of them based on the mandate of the National Executive Committee (NEC) as decided at its February meeting.
The SAN who maintained that for instance, one of the cases involving one Hanatu Musa, an NYSC member, was dismissed early this year, added that they reviewed two cases against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) presently adjourned until September 24 and October 20 and concluded to withdraw them from the court as they have been overtaken by events.
Adehi (SAN), however, posited that NBA-SPIDEL is responding to those filed against the executive of the association in Delta State.
In speaking further on the activities of SPIDEL, Adehi (SAN) revealed that his committee co-authored and facilitated four policy documents with the human rights community during the period under review.
The SAN stated that to keep SPIDEL's activities going, they also organised a conference which attracted over 1,680 lawyers, explaining that out of this figure, only about 600 participated virtually.
In his words: “NBA-SPIDEL was part of the Justice Sector Reform Summit organised by the Attorney General of the Federation in February in Abuja and participated effectively in the summit.”
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