Date:
Location:
“Challenges Facing the Nigerian Judiciary and Bar for National Security and Development”
Speaker:
A. B. Mahmoud, Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Contacts:
Jacob Olupona
Olupona@fas.harvard.edu
Darren Kew
Darren.kew@umb.edu
Co-sponsored by UMass Boston's Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development (CPDD).
This event is online only. Please click the "Read More" link for full instructions on how to attend this seminar.
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Abstract:
The growing security crisis in Nigeria results in part from a much deeper system crisis that features massive corruption and the injustices that flow from years of weak rule of law. Nigeria’s beleaguered judiciary has done much to build its independence over the 20 years of the Fourth Republic, including taking on the over-powerful executive branch on multiple occasions in a number of high-profile cases, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has played a key role in pushing for and assisting in these developments. Much, however, remains to be done to fortify the judicial branch at all levels, especially as the current security crisis threatens to overwhelm the institutions of state. What key reforms need to be enacted to ensure the political and financial independence of the Nigerian judiciary to undermine corruption, and what role can the NBA play in getting them in place? Are any of the current package of amendments under consideration in the National Assembly of particular importance in this regard? Are there immediate steps the judiciary at any level (including Shari’a and traditional courts) and the NBA can take to help address the current security crisis? Are there internal reforms in the NBA that are needed to make it a more effective advocate for rule of law in Nigeria?
Speaker Bio:
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA between 2016 and 2018. He is a Partner in the law firm of Dikko & Mahmoud (Solicitors & Advocates). He holds a master’s degree in Law from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Prior to his private legal career, he had served as a prosecutor and legal adviser to the Kano State Government and held various positions. He served as Solicitor General and later as Attorney General of theState. He also served for two terms as a member of the National Judicial Council between 2016 and 2020. Mr. Mahmoud sits on the boards and advisory councils of several organizations and philanthropies including the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, the Leadership Council of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation (on its Nigeria programs). Mr. Mahmoud is a Senior Fellow of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative (SFNLI).
