CDHR Renews Mandate For Social Justice At 2025 Annual Conference

By Joseph Sunday 

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has elected a new National Executive Council (NEC) to lead the organisation for the next two years, following the conclusion of its 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC) held in Ota, Ogun State.

The conference, which ended on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at the Maridom Palace Hotel, drew delegates from 27 state branches across Nigeria to deliberate on key organisational issues and elect new national officers.

At the end of the elections, Comrade Debo Adeniran emerged as National President, with Comrade Godwin Anyebe elected Vice President. 

Y6Other officers elected include Comrade Deji Adebowale as General Secretary, Comrade Imrana Yahaya as Assistant Secretary, Comrade Akinrinade Wahab as Treasurer, Comrade Naabulobari Naazigha-Lue as Legal Adviser, Comrade Onyibe Jeremiah as Publicity Secretary, and Comrade Musa Gwani Turare as Internal Auditor.

The National Council also passed a resolution dissolving the organisation’s Board of Trustees (BOT) and immediately constituted a new five-member board comprising Barrister Olasupo Ojo, Prof. Lucky Akarueze, Barrister Gbenga Awosode, Barrister Femi Falana, SAN, and Comrade Debo Adeniran.

Held under the theme “Human Rights as our Everyday Essentials: Fundamental, Inviolable, Indiscriminate,” the conference featured extensive deliberations on strengthening grassroots human rights advocacy and internal cohesion within the organisation.

Delivering the keynote address, renowned human rights activist and legal luminary, Barrister Olasupo Ojo, criticised the adoption of universal human rights frameworks that fail to reflect African realities, warning that governance in Nigeria continues to prioritise elite interests over citizens’ basic rights.

In his welcome address, National President Comrade Debo Adeniran reaffirmed that human rights are not privileges but daily necessities, recalling CDHR’s historic role in Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle and calling for reconciliation to revive the organisation’s presence at the grassroots.

The conference also ratified branch elections in Lagos and Delta states, inaugurated new state branches, and featured contributions from the Nigerian Bar Association, Ota Branch, and the Nigeria Police Force, as participants called for stronger collaboration in defending fundamental human rights.