Regional groups are traditional power brokers in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), especially during national elections. But, ahead of this July’s polls, are they still relevant enough to deliver their candidates? Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU examines the issue.
Ahead of the July 2020 election of national officers of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), different NBA regional groups have begun preparations to support and possibly deliver their candidates in the election.
The NBA constitution of 2015 as amended divided the country into three zones for the purpose of electing national officers. Section 2 (2) (a) states: “The association shall for the purpose of elections of National Officers be divided into three geographical zones namely – Northern zone, Eastern zone and Western zone. (b) The positions of the President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, 3rd Vice President and General Secretary shall rotate among the three zones.
In determining the eligibility of a candidate to contest for any of the rotated offices, regard shall be had to a candidate’s geographical zone of origin and not the geographical zone where he/she carries on legal practice
The association of Northern lawyers is called “ Arewa Lawyers Forum ( ALF)” This includes lawyers from Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and Abuja.
The Eastern Lawyers forum is called the “Eastern Bar Forum ( EBF)” and it includes all the lawyers from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Enugu, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Cross River, Imo and Rivers states.
The lawyers from the “Western zone are called “Egbe Amofin” and this includes all the lawyers from Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States.
The NBA constitution gave the regional groupings and zoning in the association a constitutional flavour. Before then, zoning and the regional groupings though part and parcel of the NBA structure, were mere conventions whose practices were just binding in honour.
Before the 2015 constitution when the Presidency of the Bar was zoned to the East 2006, the EBF adopted Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) as its candidate, but Chief Chris Uche (SAN) refused to respect the adoption and insisted that he must contest the election.
Mrs Funke Adekoya from the West insisted and contested the election with Agbakoba and Uche, however because of the adoption, Agbakoba won the election, defeating the other two contestants.
When in 2008, it was the turn of the West to produce NBA President, the Egbe Amofin adopted Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as its candidate and his opponent, Deacon Dele Adesina ( SAN) stepped down for him
In 2010, it was a hot contest between Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN) and Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN). The Arewa lawyers adopted Mr. Daudu (SAN) and he won the election.
Again in 2012, the EBF adopted Mr. Okey Wali (SAN) and he won the election against Chief Emeka Ngige ( SAN)
In 2014, there was no adoption, all efforts by Egbe Amofin to adopt a candidate failed to yield the desired result and eventually, three sons of Egbe Amofin namely Chief Niyi Akintola ( SAN), Mrs Funke Adekoya ( SAN) and Dele Adesina ( SAN) contested the election against Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN) from the Mid west Bar Forum who shares the same slot with Egbe Amofin. Egbe sons split their votes and Mr. Alegeh won the election.
All the aforementioned elections were conducted under the pre-existing delegates system in which only delegates from the various NBA branches voted in the election of national officers.
However, the amendment of the NBA constitution in 2015 ushered in the dawn of a new era in the electoral process of the association.
It introduced the universal suffrage which gives every Nigerian lawyer who paid his or her Bar Practising Fees ( BPF) and branch dues as and when due, the right to vote in NBA elections.
The constitution also introduced electronic voting into the association contrary to the pre existing manual voting. Since then, all NBA elections have ended in the courts of on allegations- rigging and manipulation of the systems and processes in favour of predetermined candidates.
Though there was no adoption of presidential candidate by Arewa lawyers whose turn it was to produce the associations President then, but there were obvious breaches and manifest partiality by the leadership of the Bar then and the matter went to court.
It remained in court till the end of A.B. Mahmoud administration when the matter was described as academic by the court.
In 2018, the EBF whose turn it was to produce the President of the Bar adopted Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN) as its Presidential candidate with massive support by Nigerian lawyers.
However, contrary to expectations and pre existing traditions of the Bar, Paul Usoro (SAN) who does not even belong to any regional association was declared winner of the election.
That was computer wonder, Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN) went to court immediately to challenge the outcome of the election, I think that has become another academic exercise like the J-K Gadzama case because Mr. Usoro’s tenure is gradually coming to an end.
With the experiences and developments in the last elections, the Egbe Amofin whose turn it is to produce the next President of the NBA have decided to take steps to correct their mistakes in the last elections. They have adopted one of their sons, Dele Adesina ( SAN) as their Presidential candidate for the forthcoming election.
However, some people are of the view that the regional groupings have lost relevance and can no longer deliver their candidates in this era of universal voting while others are of the view that the regional leaders are the gatekeepers of the association
In a chat with The Nation, a Trustee of the NBA, a beneficiary of the regional adoption and a former President of the association, J.B.Daudu (SAN) said: “It will be strange and indeed bordering on a paradox if anyone were to suggest that regional groups such as you have mentioned above and the Midwest Bar Forum are no longer electorally relevant in the NBA scheme of things because the constitution now makes voting universal instead of by delegates as used to be the case until 2016 when that system was dethroned.
“The short and simple answer is that it is the same constitution that has enthroned zoning as a constitutional and statutory feature of the NBA election that also prescribed universal suffrage.
“Now, they said that constitutional zoning is based on the hitherto accepted convention of rotating the office of the President of the NBA among the three major tripodal entities in Nigeria- the North, East and West.
There was a time when the Midwest claimed equal stake and representation in the NBA scheme of events but wrongly as I felt at that time, they were told to seek accommodation and relevance in their region of historical origin, that is the West.
“Consequently, even the new Constitution midwifed by a Midwesterner retained the tripodal features of the old Constitution meaning that the convention of rotation between the Midwest and Southwest has now been accepted and pigeonholed under the aegis of the West whenever it is the turn of the latter to produce the President of the NBA.
“Now, these regions or zones have evolved in keeping with their inalienable national constitutional right to freely assemble, hold and impart ideas and views formed the regional zones that we have identified above.
Consequently, it stands to reason on the strength of the maxim or idiom ‘charity begins at home’ and common sense, that whoever will represent a zone must enjoy the support of the autochthonous members of that zone, after all, such a candidate goes there to be a flag bearer of his zone and on that platform lead lawyers nationally as a product of his zone.
“Flowing from the foregoing analysis, it appears to me irrational to suggest that regional groupings have become irrelevant under the current constitution when it is the same constitution that has conferred constitutionality on the scheme of zoning.
“The final point on this issue is that it seems to me undemocratic to suggest that a zone should not be allowed to put its best leg forward and instead wait for outsiders who may not know the local zonal candidates well enough to be the ones who will decide for such a zone who their flag bearer or candidate is.
“In my view, only a tactless and divided zone or group will allow that to happen. It is only natural and democratic for a zone to be allowed at the very least to endorse its anointed candidate.
“That does not and should not in the spirit of democracy prevent any qualified candidate who fancies his chances against the overriding interest of his zone or group from throwing his hat in the ring. But to say that these zones are not relevant or have become irrelevant, I strongly disagree’’.
In his view, a former President of the association, Augustin Alegeh (SAN), saw the relevance of the regional groups from a different perspective, he said: “The regional groups in NBA remain relevant in NBA affairs. We must stop limiting their activities to electoral matters only.
In the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these regional groups should be in the forefront of addressing the welfare of the lawyers in each region. The NBA President has set up a committee on COVID-19 and these groups should immediately connect with the Committee as the challenges in the different regions may be similar but distinct.
“The welfare of the members is the primary focus of every association and these regional groupings should operate on that basis.” Alegeh said
For the chairman of the caretaker committee of Egbe Amofin, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN): “ The regional groups are very important, anybody that ignores them is just deceiving himself or herself.
“Traditional Bar leaders are taking notice of the way things are going. We are discussing with ourselves and all the aspirants in our zone are our own, you don’t destroy your house because you are going to Ede, you don’t destroy the platform of your regional association because of selfish interest, you don’t say anything derogatory about them because you want to contest a particular position.
“The truth of the matter is that leadership is a collective thing, none of them will become president of the NBA alone, none of them can become president of the Bar without those of us who are their seniors, none.
“They must appreciate the fact that what we are trying to do is to get some somebody who will return us back to the path of sanity, to the path of decency, to ensure that the legal profession regains its lost glory and discipline because there is a lot of indiscipline going on in the profession right now. Including the Bench, it is the Bar that feeds the Bench. We must appreciate this, that is where the Bar leaders should come in and reign in those of us who are still very recalcitrant” Akintola said.
The chairman of the Eastern Bar Forum ( EBF) S. LongWilliams said: ”If you look at Section 2.2 paragraph e-f of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association 2015 as amended, you will discover that the regions (zones) that constitute the bedrock of the NBA were given statutory flavour.
“Look specifically at sub-section 2.2(e). The question that will come to any discerning mind is how are the provisions of this sections going to be managed in order to avoid conflict amongst the sections that constitutes each zone?
“Specifically Section 2.2(d) provides: ‘Where a position is zoned to any particular geographical zone, the position shall be rotated and held in turn by the different groups and/or sections in the geographical zone.’
“Those who are saying that the ethnic associations are no more relevant, have they bothered to ask who will manage this provision? Who will ensure that the sections in the zones are all given the opportunity to present candidate for elective positions, it is the regional forums that are saddled with this onerous responsibility.
If not it will be a free for all and may lead to a breakdown of orderliness and respect for the constitution.
“As you are aware, the EBF just met in March, 2020 and on the issue of the 2020 NBA elections, we took far reaching resolutions on how the EBF aspirants will go into the elections and l tell you after the Owerri Meeting, we now have a more united, virile, vibrant and focused Forum.
“The relationship of the Eastern Bar Forum with other regional forums has been very cordial. Usually when there is a meeting of any of the forums, representatives from other forum attend such meetings and this has been going on over the years and we urge that this will continue.
“We have been relating and encouraging one another in charting the way forward.I will urge the other regional groups to domesticate the provisions of Section 2.2(d) in the second schedule of the constitution of the NBA 2015 as amended in their respective constitution to avoid unnecessary bickering and strengthen internal democracy within the Bar” LongWilliams stated.
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