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THE NATION TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014
NATIONAL BAR
Alegeh vows to reform electoral process •Opponents greet president-elect
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RESIDENT-ELECT of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. August ine Alegeh (SAN) has pledged to reform the association’s electoral process to allow for electronic voting. Speaking after his election, he said he would work to make running for an NBA office less cumbersome and inexpensive. Alegeh was last week elected the 27th NBA President, bringing to a close several months of intrigues ahead of a keenly contested election. The NBA Presidency was this time zoned to the West, which in NBA nomenclature includes the Midwest. Consequently, four contestants aspired for the office, namely Alegeh, Mrs Funke Adekoya (SAN), Dele Adesina (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) and Osas Erhabor. Other elected officers are: Francis Ekwere (First Vice-President); Taiwo O. Taiwo (Second Vice-President); Akintokunbo Oluwole (Third Vice-President); Mazi Afam Osigwe (General Secretary); Olatunji Salawu (First Asst. Secretary); Ephraim Adimabua (Second Assistant Secretary); and Amina Ibrahim (Treasurer). The rest are Welfare Officer, Mas’ud Alabelewe; Publicity Secretary, Gbolahan Gbadamosi; Financial Secretary, Kelvin Ejelonu; Asst. Financial Secretary, Cecilia Ugbuji, and Legal Adviser, Bisi Enoch Ayeni. Alegeh’s election marks the emergence of a new power block at the Bar. Even though regional fora adopted candidates for the election, their influence was not readily manifest like in the past. Alegeh had an overwhelming support. He polled 691 votes, followed by Adesina (370), Adekoya (255), Akintola (126) and Erhabor (17). Some analysts believe had the Egbe Amofin (Yoruba Lawyers Forum) been able to present a consensus candidate (which would have pitted the West against the Midwest, assuming Alegeh did not step down), it would have avoided the split
By John Austin Unachukwu
votes of 768, which is 77 more than what Alegeh polled. However, other candidates who contested for the office of NBA President have sent in their congratulatory massages and pledged to work with Alegeh to move the Bar forward. Adesina said: “I wish to say that though the contest was intense, it is now over and a President –elect has emerged. There is a clear and present duty on us all to move the Bar forward and advance the course of the legal profession. “As a key member of the NBA family, I wish to once again assure our new President, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) of my support and co-operation. In declaring closed my campaign organisation, I thank God for your support. May God bless us all and bless our association.” Akintola congratulated Alegah and assured him of his co-operation. He added: “We all have learnt our lessons from the result of this election.” Erhabor: “In everything, we give thanks to God Almighty. We congratulate all the contestants and delegates. In a sense, we all have pursued our diverse convictions with courage and audacity. We congratulate in particular, the President- elect, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) and other elected officers, we wish the entire Bar well.” Congratulating Alegeh, Adekoya urged him to ensure probity, ethical conduct, policies that are in the best interests of lawyers, as well as holding officers accountable to the highest standards. “To the incoming President, I offer my congratulations. May the Almighty be your guide. Our members have spoken and I bow to their will. However, we must continue to interrogate the pressing issues that assail our Bar Association; we must demand probity, ethical conduct, policies that are in the best interests of lawyers, and hold our officers accountable to the highest standards,” Adekoya said.
•From left: Alegeh, Osigwe, Ekwere and Oluwole
•From left: Amina, Ayeni, Gbadamosi, Ejelonu Ugbuji and Taiwo
•From left: Chairman, Eastern Bar Forum Ogbonna O. Igwenyi; Elder Wilcox, S. I. Ameh (SAN) Minister of State for Education Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and former General Secretary NBA Ibrahim Eddy Mark
Lawyer seeks electoral reforms
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HE outgoing Assistant National Pub licity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar As sociation (NBA) Mr John Austin Unachukwu has urged the incoming executive, led by Mr Augustine Alegeh (SAN) to reform the electoral process to make it seamless, less rigorous, transparent and credible. Unachukwu, a candidate for the Publicity Secretary, was disqualified on the eve of the election because he was yet to clock 10 at the Bar. The Electoral Committee said he would be 10 at the Bar in October to be eligible to contest as provided for in the NBA constitution. This was after the NBA Lagos Branch, where he belongs, had asked him to pay dues as required of one who is 10 years at the Bar, which he did since last year. He, therefore, wants a clarification on how the year of call is calculated. Unachukwu, in a statement, described the situation as “disqualification by ambush”, adding: “Results of screening were not made known to candidates, only for some of them to be told of their disqualification on the eve of the election when they came for accreditation and presentation of their manifestoes. No formal or prior information of disqualification was given to the affected candidates “Some other contestants were disqualified and nobody told them anything except that they did not find their names on the list of
By Precious Igbonwelundu
qualified candidates . “It has become imperative for the NBA National Executive Committee (NEC) to pass a resolution on how the number of years of call to the Bar is computed in the association. Does it include the year of call? This will reduce or completely eliminate the ambiguity surrounding the interpretation of the years. “ A situation where candidates travel to all the nooks and corners of the country on campaign, only to be told that the list of candidates was just posted and their names were not listed as contestants, with no opportunity to appeal, is highly undemocratic, condemnable, dictatorial and amounts to disqualification by ambush ‘’The time for NBA elections are provided for in the constitution. Elections should be properly planned and electoral time table and guidelines released, so candidates for the elections should be screened on time and given opportunity to appeal and be heard by the NEC before elections, in the spirit of fair hearing and democracy. “This will also reduce the tension and spate of law suits that trail the association’s activities. A situation where lawyers stand on a queue for almost four hours in the sun before casting their votes is not too good and should be improved upon.”
•From left: Former President MULAN Tajudeen Oladoja; Mrs. K. Ajose, former President NBA Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN); Ofoma Nneka, Theodore Jr., Ezeobi, Ada-Obinna Edozie, Chinenye Okongwu and Maduchesi
•Former President FIDA, Chief Stella Ugboma; former President NBA O.C.J. Okocha (SAN), Chief John Ochoja and Chief Lucius Nwosu (SAN)
Why I ran for NBA presidency, by Adekoya
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NE of the contestants in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election, Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN) has explained why she ran for the presidency. She said: “I sought to restore this profession to its revered and respected status as the voice of the voiceless Nigerians and the defender of the interests of legal practitioners. But it was not to be. Our members have spoken and we now have a president-elect. “In this race, I have had the privilege of meeting
colleagues from all over our great nation and cultivating life-long friendships. Let me, therefore, thank all my many supporters who stood by me and what I stand for, who remained true to their conscience, and who stood up to be counted when it mattered most. “I appreciate your tireless efforts, sacrifices, encouragement and prayers. The unprecedented support in various forms that I have received in the last two months has
renewed my faith in humanity and in our innate nobility as lawyers. “I recall that an ardent supporter and colleague sent me five recharge cards in support of my campaign, with an apology that she could not afford more. “To all of you who keyed into our vision, I can only sincerely thank you and pray that the Almighty God will honour you in due season. You all are the true winners.”