Human rights legal practitioner Christopher Chidera, a member of the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, has issued a damning open letter to the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), copying the International Bar Association (IBA).
In the petition released on Sunday, August 23, 2026, ahead of the NBA Annual General Conference (AGC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Chidera accused the association of holding a lavish “jamboree” while remaining silent on the systemic collapse of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
“As you wine and dine at the NBA jamboree in Port Harcourt, the foundations of Nigerian criminal justice are being set ablaze in Abuja,” Chidera wrote. “This is no longer professional neutrality; it is cowardice. The watchdog has become a lapdog.”
Chidera referenced the ongoing detention of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, pointing out that despite the Court of Appeal’s October 13, 2022 judgment that quashed all charges and discharged Kanu, the federal government weaponized an “unprecedented civil stay of execution” to keep him detained.
He queried why a civil procedural mechanism was deployed to freeze a criminal appellate judgment concerning personal liberty, asserting that “liberty is not a debt” and criticizing the NBA for taking no decisive stance against such executive overreach.
Drawing a sharp contrast between the current bar leadership and legendary human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi, Chidera criticized the modern NBA as a “toothless professional establishment” more interested in titles, elite access, and proximity to power than defending basic rule of law.
The open letter marks the first installment in a planned three-part series targeting constitutional breaches within the Nigerian criminal justice process. Neither NBA leadership nor official spokespersons have publicly responded to the petition.
