Dr. Uju Agomoh, SPIDEL Chairmanship and Her Breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct
The Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) has long positioned itself as a beacon of integrity, internal democracy, and adherence to professional ethics. Its 2025 conference adopted the theme “A Banner Without Stain,” a rallying call for lawyers to uphold principles of fairness, accountability, and respect for due process. Yet, recent events surrounding the SPIDEL Chairmanship cast a troubling shadow over these ideals.
Dr. Uju Agomoh, the current 'Chairman' of SPIDEL, assumed office on the 4th of December, 2025 despite clear disqualification under NBA rules. According to the NBA Constitution and the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007, all members must pay their Bar Practice Fees by March 31 each year. Eligibility to vote or run for office in any NBA section, including SPIDEL, depends on compliance with this requirement. Dr. Agomoh neither paid her 2024 fees at all nor her 2025 fees on time, only remitting them on the 25th of August 2025, months after the March 31 deadline.
The NBA has explicitly clarified the consequences of late or non-payment. Defaulting lawyers are deprived of audience in court, the right to prepare legal documents, and, importantly, the right to hold office or be voted for in the Association’s elections. These rules are not discretionary: failure to comply constitutes professional misconduct under Rule 9 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
“Section 4 (1) (a) of the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA” or “Association”) Constitution 2021 (as amended), defines a full member of the Association as “any person duly enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a legal practitioner and registered with a Branch of the Association.
Section 4 (1) (b) provides that: "Notwithstanding the provision of Section 4(1) (a), any member who fails or neglects to pay the prescribed Annual Practicing Fees on or before the 31st of March in each year shall have no right to vote or be voted for at any election of the Association.
By Section 4(1) (c) of the NBA Constitution, "Failure or neglect to pay the Annual Practicing Fees and Branch Dues, as and when due, shall disentitle such member from the benefits and privileges accruing to members of the Association."
Thus, any member who fails or neglects to pay his or her Bar Practising Fees (BPF) by or before the end of March of each year shall, for as long as he/she remains in default, inter alia, have no right:
“Of audience in any Court in Nigeria; to prepare, authenticate or frank legal documents including Memorandum and/or Articles of Association; to hold any office whatsoever to which he or she would have been entitled by virtue of his/her qualification as a legal practitioner; to vote or be voted for at any election of the Association.
Furthermore, failure or neglect to pay the Annual Practising Fees and Branch Dues, as and when due, shall be deemed to be an act of professional misconduct.
In consonance with the NBA Constitution, Rule 9 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 mandatorily stipulates as follows:
“A lawyer shall pay his Annual Practicing Fees not later than 31st March in every year. In the case of lawyers who are enrolled during the year, the fees shall be paid within one month of the enrolment;
“A lawyer shall not claim in any court or before a judicial tribunal that he has paid his Annual Practicing Fee when he is, in fact, in default.
“A lawyer shall not sign documents, pleadings, affidavits, depositions, applications, instruments, agreements, letters, deeds, letters, memorandum, reports, legal opinions or similar documents or processes or file such documents as a legal practitioner, legal officer or adviser of any Governmental department or Ministry or any corporation when he is in default of payment of his Annual Practicing Fees.”
Non-payment of Bar Practising Fees on or before 31 March of each year robs the Legal Practitioner of audience before the courts with effect from the said “cut-off” date.
Non-payment of the Practising Fees as at when due also denies the Legal Practitioner certain privileges e.g. elevation to the Inner Bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and/or appointments as Notary Public and as Judicial Officers, eligibility to run for NBA offices.
“Rule 10(1) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007, also provides that a lawyer acting in the capacity of a legal practitioner, legal officer or adviser of any Governmental department or Ministry or any Corporation, shall not sign or file a legal document unless there is affixed on any such document a seal and stamp approved by the Nigerian Bar Association. The payment of Bar Practising Fees is a pre-condition for the issuance of the annual seal and stamp.
While the right of audience before the Courts can be restored and the qualification for the issuance of annual stamps be remedied by and upon the immediate payment of the Bar Practising Fees, albeit, after the cut-off date of 31st March, the other privileges (e.g. elevation to the Inner Bar and appointments as Notary Public and as a Judicial Officer, election into NBA offices) will unfortunately remain forfeited to the defaulting legal practitioner.
From the report of the SPIDEL Electoral Committee, Dr. Uju Agomoh paid her 2025 Bar Practice fees on the 25th of August, 2025, way past the March 31st deadline, so she is not eligible to run for or hold any office in the NBA, the basis upon which she was rightly disqualified by the electoral committee.
As seen above by virtue of Section 4(1) of the NBA Constitution 2021 (as amended), to be a Chairman or Secretary, one must have paid Bar Practice Fees as and when due.
Dr. Uju Agomoh did not pay her 2024 Bar Practice fees and paid her 2025 fees way out of time, only because she wanted to run for office. From her antecedents in 2024, one can easily hold that she would not have paid for 2025 either, but for the fact that she needed to, so she could be eligible to run. And even then, she paid same out of time. So clearly she is in breach of the NBA Constitution and not qualified to be the Chairman of SPIDEL.
Yet, despite being disqualified by the SPIDEL Electoral Committee, Dr. Agomoh allowed herself to be sworn in as Chairman, ignoring several calls to resign honourably, mirroring the sit-tight attitude of African leaders.
The seriousness of this breach cannot be overstated. This is not merely a moral lapse; it is a violation of professional conduct that undermines SPIDEL’s credibility as a guardian of ethical and legal standards. By disregarding the NBA Constitution and electoral rules, Dr. Agomoh has deprived a fully qualified candidate, Mr. John Aikpokpo Martins, of a legitimate mandate and subverted the internal democracy of the Section.
The irony is glaring. Dr. Agomoh is a highly accomplished legal professional with an extensive record of leadership in justice, security, and human rights across Africa. She is Founder/Director of PRAWA, President of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) Africa Chapter, Programme Manager for DFID’s Justice for All Programme, and has held numerous advisory and leadership positions in human rights and security institutions. Her research focuses on human rights training, oversight of criminal justice systems, prison reforms, and rehabilitation programs.
Yet, these achievements make her violation of internal law and professional rules even more troubling. Affiliation with international organizations that insist on rule of law and ethical governance only heightens the expectation that she would act in strict compliance with NBA rules. Instead, she has chosen to flout them, calling into question her integrity and commitment to the principles she publicly champions.
SPIDEL’s authority rests on moral consistency. Its members are expected to uphold the very principles they advocate. When eligibility rules are ignored, processes are circumvented, and internal mandates are seized contrary to the rules, the Section’s credibility suffers. Words about “a banner without stain” become hollow, and the institution itself bears the stain.
In the end, the question is unavoidable: can SPIDEL maintain its moral authority when its Chairperson violates the constitution and professional conduct she pledged to uphold? The answer depends not on accomplishments, nor on rhetoric, but on action: resignation and respect for the rules are the only remedies. Anything less is a stain on the Section’s conscience and a breach of the ethical standards expected of every Nigerian lawyer.
