The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NBA

  • NBA blames institutional failure for insecurity

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud have urged politicians to play by the rules as the nation prepares for the next general elections.

    While Onnghen urged  politicians to ýconduct themselves lawfully so as not to endanger the peace and stability of the country, Mahmoud appealed to political actors, including those holding the reins of power at all levels, to respect and remain faithful to the Constitution.

    They spoke at the opening ceremony of NBA’s 2018 national conference, with the theme: “Transition, transformation and sustainable institutions.”

    Onnghen stressed the need for the continued protection of the independence of the Judiciary to enable it function effectively to safeguard the nation’s democracy.

    The CJN noted that the Judiciary would be bold “to play its role without fear or favour” if its independence was guaranteed.

    Mahmoud blamed the rising cases of insecurity on the failure of state institutions.

    The NBA President, who said he recently led a team to assess the security situation in Zamfara State, said: “it appears to us that at the heart of these conflicts is a weakened state system.

    “There appears to be systemic collapse of institutions of governance both at the local and state levels.

    “In many parts of the state, as we have seen in other places, there is clear evidence of failure of the justice system.

    “In Zamfara State many ordinary people complained to us about how the police, the court systems and traditional institutions have become avenues of extortion and oppression, and how the authority of bandits and other non-state actors is supplanting that of state agents.

    “At our town hall meeting in Gusau many speakers narrated stories of failure of formal systems of dispute resolution.

    “Many spoke openly of the persistent absence of the governor from the state and his failure to provide effective leadership on the ground,”he said.

    Mahmoud also blamed the nation’s inability to overcome its economic and developmental challenges on the absence of viable state institutions.

    He said: “The NBA remains deeply concerned that our transformative journey to a stable prosperous country remains hampered by the absence of strong accountable and sustainable institutions.

    *We are convinced that our huge potentials either as a country or as a continent, cannot not be unleashed until we overcome the challenge of institution building.

    *Rule of law and democracy can only be guaranteed or anchored on strong institutions built on clear, fair and transparent processes with predictable outcomes.” he said.

    Mahmoud commended the government for its prompt intervention during the last invasion of the National Assembly by security personnel.

    He added: “We call on all security agencies to remain professional in their roles and also uphold the constitution whilst remaining loyal to constituted civil authority.

    “The Nigerian Bar Association will remain vigilant in the defense of the constitution and the rule of law,” he said.

    Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to address the conference today “to offer some insights into Ghana’s promising transformative strides and perhaps some lessons, even if tentative for us here in Nigeria.”

    TheNBA President said Ghana, currently ranked above Nigeria, has made great strides from which should learn.

    Mahmoud noted that: “For instance Ghana remains ahead of Nigeria on ease of doing business.  Ghana’s global ranking out of 190 Countries Ranked by the World Bank in Ease of Doing Business, Starting a Business and Getting Electricity is 120, 110 and 136 respectively compared to Nigeria’s rankings of 145, 130 and 172 respectively.

    “In the field of administration of justice, Ghana has made encouraging progress in the reform of its justice system, in creating functional and more efficient commercial courts, in fighting corruption in the judiciary and generally improving the justice sector.

    “Notably, only in July President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo appointed four new justices to the Supreme Court of Ghana among them, a senior private practitioner and an academic in a bold move to and strengthen and bring diversity to the Ghanaian Supreme Court.”

  • 2019: NBA cautions politicians against use of military, security agencies

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday  cautioned politicians against the use of the military and other security agencies in the 2019 general elections.

    The NBA president, Mr Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), gave this warning at the N100 million endowment fund, organised by the association in support of access to justice for the North-east region.

    Mahmoud said it would not be in the interest of the country, if the growing trend of dragging the military and security agencies into the murky waters of the nation’s politics continued.

    He said it  was unpatriotic to “seek to enlist the military or security agencies in the ongoing political skirmishes.”

    He appealed to the security agencies and the military  to “maintain professionalism and abide by their constitutional duties and responsibilities.”

    The NBA president decried the incessant challenges of law and order and communal conflicts across the country, noting that only a few states were spared from the violence of insurgency.

    He said that as Nigeria  approaches  the election cycle, these challenges are likely to increase, as recent events have clearly demonstrated.

    Mahmoud pledged that the NBA remains  a professional non partisan organisation, and will  remain neutral among political actors.

    “We remain firm on the side of the constitution and the rule of law and will continue to demand that constitutional boundaries be respected and maintained by all governments and people in authority’’, Mahmoud said.

     

  • National Assembly invasion threat to democracy, says NBA

    •Lawyers hail Osinbajo

    The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has added its voice to the general condemnation of yesterday’s invasion of the National Assembly by security personnel.

    NBA, in a statement by its President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), described the security personnel’s action as unconstitutional and constituting a grave threat to democracy.

    Part of the statement reads: “The Nigerian Bar Association condemns this brazen and blatant act of the security personnel and demands the immediate withdrawal of these personnel.

    “This action is unconstitutional and poses a threat to our democracy. We call on the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), to immediately call the security forces to order.

    “The Nigerian Bar Association condemns, in the strongest terms the attempt, by the government or any faction of the political class to drag the Nigerian security forces into their ongoing political bickering and manoeuvres, totally unrelated to their responsibilities of governance for which they were elected.

    “We call on the military, the Nigeria Police, Department of State Security and all other security agencies not to engage in any unconstitutional operations or allow themselves to be dragged into partisan political activities directly or indirectly.

    “We want to remind the heads of these security agencies that there is sufficient framework under domestic and international law to hold them accountable for illegal and unconstitutional operational use of security personnel.

    “The NBA will continue to monitor the current situation and will not hesitate to take further and more drastic action in defence of Nigerian democracy should this call remain unheeded.”

    But in another statement, the NBA praised Osinbajo for the “prompt and decisive action taken on the siege of the National Assembly”.

    The association said: “The action taken by the Acting President has reassured Nigerians that security personnel and Nigerian armed forces are under the authority of constitutionally elected Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and would not be deployed for undemocratic purposes.

    “Whilst commending the Acting President for his courageous decision, the NBA will remain vigilant and will continue to monitor the current situation and urge our security agencies to remain faithful to their constitutional roles and responsibilities.”

    Osinbajo’s action renews hope in democracy, says senior lawyer

     

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof Ernest Ojukwu, said Osinbajo’s action renews hope in democracy.

    “The immediate and unequivocal condemnation of the illegal DSS-Police siege on the National Assembly and the decisive termination of the appointment of the DSS boss by His Excellency Acting President Osinbajo has renewed great hopes that our democracy shall survive,” he said

    Adegboruwa hails lawmakers for vigilance

     

    Activist-lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa praised the lawmakers for their vigilance.

    “The Constitution in Sections 4, 5 and 6 established the three arms of government with separate powers and functions.

    “They are to act independently and autonomously, without any interference from one arm of government in the affairs of the other.

    “The DSS and the police are all part of the executive arm of government and it is totally unconstitutional for the DSS to have invaded the premises of the National Assembly in such commando fashion, as if we are under military rule.

    “I commend the action taken by the Acting President, in due consultations with the President, I believe,” he said.

     

     

     

  • ‘I love NBA, but I love justice more’

    The immediate past Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Secretary Mazi Afam Osigwe spoke to reporters on his disqualification from contesting for the association’s presidency and other issues surrounding the national officers’ election, which holds from Thursday till Saturday. ROBERT EGBE was there.

    Critics have faulted your claims against the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) electoral process. What is your response to them?

    Events surrounding the NBA election have shown to sceptics and those who felt that I made a wild allegation about attempts to unjustly influence the process and take decisions not supported by law, that the allegations I made were actually not unfounded. I say this, bearing in mind the reasons for my disqualification, because the matter is pending in court, I will only describe the grounds for my disqualification as being spurious.

    What are some of the actions of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) that you disagree with?

    We had cause to point out that the mode the electoral committee embarked on in collecting data for the electoral committee was not only wrong, but impracticable and in conflict with the letter and spirit of the NBA constitution, and that it also wrongly gave too much power to the branches and that the power could be abused.

    We did point out that the proper thing for the NBA to do was to rely on data collected from the statement of account, that it was wrong to ask branches to collect tellers from members and that this was worrisome in the light of the fact that some candidates paid practice fees and branch dues for young lawyers and kept those tellers without giving it to them. They did the submission of documents on their behalf and only gave them photocopies of tellers, long after the date stipulated for that.

    We pointed out that if you look at the second schedule (of the NBA constitution), it presupposes that the act of registering to be a voter is the act of the lawyer, and that under the NBA constitution, the electoral committee lacks the power to delegate data  collection to branches, that all the branches are supposed to do is to submit the list of members of their branches that paid branch dues and for NBA to match it with its data and produce the preliminary voters’ list and require lawyers to go online and register to vote. So, by updating your records you have indicated that you want to vote. Unfortunately, this was not done.

    What effects do you think these actions have had?

    In some places like Abuja and a few others where there were crises, you see an unwholesome situation where after publishing some people’s names as voters, or publishing their names in the preliminary voters’ register, suddenly their name disappeared entirely from the final voters’ list, because they said a faction not recognised by the NBA submitted their names, even when they could not fault the fact that they paid Bar practice fees and branch dues, you said because a man you do not recognise submitted their names, they will not vote. So, you see Abuja (voting population) dropping by more than 50 percent, and it is intentional because I was originally from Abuja branch and it was supposed to be my strong base and so, they were cherry picking. If they felt a person was supporting me, even down to my own wife and all the lawyers in my office, the person was weeded out of the voters’ register.

    How do you hope to remedy the situation?

    I filed a motion for injunction to stop the election into the office of the President, my contention being that the NBA constitution allows the First Vice President of the NBA to act in the absence of the President; the substance of my suit relates to my unlawful disqualification and unlawful exclusion from the election. In other words, my suit stands on being allowed to participate in the election into the office of the President. But, also realising that the current leadership of the NBA has not had a record of respecting court orders, as we saw happen in NBA Abuja branch, my counsel felt that it was important to include a prayer seeking the nullification of the election, if NBA, despite the pendency of the suit, goes ahead to conduct the election.

    But, from all indications, the election will go on as scheduled on Monday?

    Now you would expect a lawful and respectful organisation faced with this kind of situation, whether it be right or wrong, to hold on and await the outcome of the court. That’s my understanding of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Peter Obi vs INEC. If I were on the NBA electoral committee, knowing that this issue has been presented to court, I would, even in the absence of an injunction, not conduct an election into the office of the President, knowing that the NBA will not grind to a halt.

    Can these situations be avoided in the future?

    When the administration I served as General Secretary introduced electronic voting, the President then (Austine Alegeh SAN) did say that the society should emulate it. I’m not sure we can make that argument with any confidence or pride now, because even before the election, people already believed that this election will never meet the least of international best practices. People already believe that the electoral committee is conducting a concluded election, and that is not complimentary.

    So, I would want to see the electoral process sanitised, I would want us to develop a system of appointing independent persons to conduct the elections. I would want to see a situation where there’s more openness than we have presently. I would want a system where branches must, as a matter of course, not receive cash payments so that payments can be easily verified. I want to see a system where the NBA is actually able to keep records, because to contest for some of these offices, you are required to have served in a branch executive committee. Some people simply say they have served, but we have no way of finding out whether they have said the truth or not. I would also want to see a situation where we remove some of the restrictions that limit people’s ability to participate, like saying you must have been in the National Executive Committee (NEC) for two years. We need to review that and remove it. We also need to have a stabilised way of saying, ‘this is how you calculate age at the Bar, so that somebody who will turn 10 years in November, is not trying to contest in June for that same office when she has not turned 10, and when the law is clear that it is 10 years post-enrolment.

    Don’t you find it odd that you’re suing an association you are seeking to lead?

    I love the NBA, but I love justice more. Normally, I don’t think it is right for someone to sue an association he seeks to lead, but sometimes to sanitise a system, you need to challenge the system. I also went to court so that this does not happen to another person. If that makes me a sacrificial lamb, so be it. Some people call me and say, “Oh! By suing the NBA, if you apply for Silk tomorrow, they won’t give you.” I tell them that when it is my time to take Silk, if it is the will of God, I will take it. I will not for fear of what will happen today, fail to take a necessary action, and it’s not about benefits, because if it were, I’m sure if I sit down to negotiate, I can be promised juicy things. But at some point in your life you must live for or be remembered for something and I want people to be able to reference my case as a point where people stood up to challenge this system. Probably, this has continued because people always accepted this in silence, but I never do and I don’t believe we should….We will do all that is necessary for us to diligently get justice in the matter.

     

     

  • NBA shifts poll to August 19

    THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).has shifted its election slated to commence last night to Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 due to difficulties encountered by members with the verification process.

    NBA President Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) announced this yesterday in Abuja at a news conference.

    Mahmoud said the shift was due to widespread complaints by  members about the security of the verification process being undertaken by Chams Plc.

    He said upon the review of the process so far, it became necessary to disaggregate the entire electoral process into three stages: pre, during and post-election.

    Mahmoud further said it also became pertinent to appoint a new service provider to manage a more secured verification process that would strengthen the confidence of members in the electoral process.

    To this effect, he said the NBA appointed CRENET to undertake the development and deployment of sophisticated technology with high level securities to ensure that all members were duly verified.

    “To ensure that our members are not disenfranchised during the electoral process, the NBA has instructed CRENET to suspend the current verification process and introduce a simplified process.

    “This is to enable all outstanding members eligible to vote, but unable to verify their details to do so through a simplified form that will be made available for completion and submission online.”

    He explained that based on the introduction of the new process, the electoral committee would reopen the verification process on Aug. 8.

    According to him, each eligible member of the association should complete their verification form between Aug. 8 and Aug. 11.

    The NBA boss said the reconciliation of verified data by CRENET would be done by Aug.11 and Aug.15 while publication of the final voter list would be out by Aug. 16.

    Mahmoud added that transfer and testing of the voting platform would be done on Aug.18 and the election proper would hold on Aug. 19 and  Aug.20.

    The president affirmed NBA’s commitment to conduct free, fair and credible election, adding that he was aware that the election ought to hold in July but the shift would be rectified by congress.

    He said Chams had so far verified 5,500 members, who were not to take part in the fresh verification to be done by CRENET.

    Chairman of the NBA Electoral Committee, Prof. Auwalu Yardudu has refuted reports that he had resigned his position as chairman of the electoral committee.

    Yardudu denied authoring the resignation letter which had his signature, adding that it was forged by mischief-makers.

    He said the NBA would investigate and punish those responsible for issuing and publishing the purported resignation letter.

  • NBA holds elections August 6

    The Nigeria Bar Association ( NBA ) will hold its national elections on August 6.

    Its President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.

    Mahmoud said the elections has been scheduled  between midnight on August 6 (when the voting portal would be opened) and midnight on August 8 (when the portal would be shot).

    He assured that all necessary measures have been taken to ensure a transparent electoral process that will meet the expectation of all members.

    Mahmoud added that although national elections were always held in July, the decision to conduct this year’s exercise in August was informed by some developments that required the attention of NBA leadership.

    “The delay has nothing to do with the competence of the NBA, the Electoral Committee or that of the technological services providers. It was as a result of the several issues raised by some members, which we found necessary to address,” Mahmoud said.

     

    Details later…

  • ‘I love NBA, but I love justice more’

    The immediate past Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Secretary Mazi Afam Osigwe spoke to reporters on his disqualification from contesting for the association’s presidency and other issues surrounding the national officers’ election, which holds from Thursday till Saturday. ROBERT EGBE was there.

    Critics have faulted your claims against the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) electoral process. What is your response to them?

    Events surrounding the NBA election have shown to sceptics and those who felt that I made a wild allegation about attempts to unjustly influence the process and take decisions not supported by law, that the allegations I made were actually not unfounded. I say this, bearing in mind the reasons for my disqualification, because the matter is pending in court, I will only describe the grounds for my disqualification as being spurious.

    What were some of the actions of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) that you disagreed with?

    We had cause to point out that the mode the electoral committee embarked on in collecting data for the electoral committee was not only wrong, but impracticable and in conflict with the letter and spirit of the NBA constitution, and that it also wrongly gave too much power to the branches and that the power could be abused.

    We did point out that the proper thing for the NBA to do was to rely on data collected from the statement of account, that it was wrong to ask branches to collect tellers from members and that this was worrisome in the light of the fact that some candidates paid practice fees and branch dues for young lawyers and kept those tellers without giving it to them. They did the submission of documents on their behalf and only gave them photocopies of tellers, long after the date stipulated for that.

    We pointed out that if you look at the second schedule (of the NBA constitution), it presupposes that the act of registering to be a voter is the act of the lawyer, and that under the NBA constitution, the electoral committee lacks the power to delegate data  collection to branches, that all the branches are supposed to do is to submit the list of members of their branches that paid branch dues and for NBA to match it with its data and produce the preliminary voters’ list and require lawyers to go online and register to vote. So, by updating your records you have indicated that you want to vote. Unfortunately, this was not done.

    What effects do you think these actions have had?

    In some places like Abuja and a few others where there were crises, you see an unwholesome situation where after publishing some people’s names as voters, or publishing their names in the preliminary voters’ register, suddenly their name disappeared entirely from the final voters’ list, because they said a faction not recognised by the NBA submitted their names, even when they could not fault the fact that they paid Bar practice fees and branch dues, you said because a man you do not recognise submitted their names, they will not vote. So, you see Abuja (voting population) dropping by more than 50 percent, and it is intentional because I was originally from Abuja branch and it was supposed to be my strong base and so, they were cherry picking. If they felt a person was supporting me, even down to my own wife and all the lawyers in my office, the person was weeded out of the voters’ register.

    How do you hope to remedy the situation?

    I filed a motion for injunction to stop the election into the office of the President, my contention being that the NBA constitution allows the First Vice President of the NBA to act in the absence of the President; the substance of my suit relates to my unlawful disqualification and unlawful exclusion from the election. In other words, my suit stands on being allowed to participate in the election into the office of the President. But, also realising that the current leadership of the NBA has not had a record of respecting court orders, as we saw happen in NBA Abuja branch, my counsel felt that it was important to include a prayer seeking the nullification of the election, if NBA, despite the pendency of the suit, goes ahead to conduct the election.

    But, from all indications, the election will go on as scheduled on Monday (yesterday) and Tuesday (today)?

    Now you would expect a lawful and respectful organisation faced with this kind of situation, whether it be right or wrong, to hold on and await the outcome of the court. That’s my understanding of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Peter Obi vs INEC. If I were on the NBA electoral committee, knowing that this issue has been presented to court, I would, even in the absence of an injunction, not conduct an election into the office of the President, knowing that the NBA will not grind to a halt.

    Can these kinds of situations be avoided in the future?

    When the administration I served as General Secretary introduced electronic voting, the President then (Austine Alegeh SAN) did say that the society should emulate it. I’m not sure we can make that argument with any confidence or pride now, because even before the election, people already believed that this election will never meet the least of international best practices. People already believe that the electoral committee is conducting a concluded election, and that is not complimentary.

    So, I would want to see the electoral process sanitised, I would want us to develop a system of appointing independent persons to conduct the elections. I would want to see a situation where there’s more openness than we have presently. I would want a system where branches must, as a matter of course, not receive cash payments so that payments can be easily verified. I want to see a system where the NBA is actually able to keep records, because to contest for some of these offices, you are required to have served in a branch executive committee. Some people simply say they have served, but we have no way of finding out whether they have said the truth or not. I would also want to see a situation where we remove some of the restrictions that limit people’s ability to participate, like saying you must have been in the National Executive Committee (NEC) for two years. We need to review that and remove it. We also need to have a stabilised way of saying, ‘this is how you calculate age at the Bar, so that somebody who will turn 10 years in November, is not trying to contest in June for that same office when she has not turned 10, and when the law is clear that it is 10 years post-enrolment.

    Don’t you find it odd that you’re suing an association you are seeking to lead?

    I love the NBA, but I love justice more. Normally, I don’t think it is right for someone to sue an association he seeks to lead, but sometimes to sanitise a system, you need to challenge the system. I also went to court so that this does not happen to another person. If that makes me a sacrificial lamb, so be it. Some people call me and say, “Oh! By suing the NBA, if you apply for Silk tomorrow, they won’t give you.” I tell them that when it is my time to take Silk, if it is the will of God, I will take it. I will not for fear of what will happen today, fail to take a necessary action, and it’s not about benefits, because if it were, I’m sure if I sit down to negotiate, I can be promised juicy things. But at some point in your life you must live for or be remembered for something and I want people to be able to reference my case as a point where people stood up to challenge this system. Probably, this has continued because people always accepted this in silence, but I never do and I don’t believe we should….We will do all that is necessary for us to diligently get justice in the matter.

  • NBA vows to deliver credible polls

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has promised to deliver credible and transparent elections in forthcoming elections scheduled for this month end.

    Following fears caused by that one of the presisential candidates has a cross board relationship with Chams, the ICT firm engaged to man the portal for the elections, the NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) took steps to verify the allegations, correct the impression and reinforce confidence in the process.

    At the end of the consultations, the association in a statement said: “The leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association has followed with great concern, the various issues that have arisen regarding the preparation for the conduct of the 2018 NBA National Elections as well as various allegations that have been made which have created perceptions of the lack of integrity in the electoral process and which may cast doubt on its outcome.

    “To address these issues, it became necessary for the NBA to undertake an extensive and careful review of all processes and also seek clarifications andinvestigate all the allegations, particularly with regards to the selection of the e-voting platform service provider as well the integrity and security of the infrastructure to be deployed and the capability of the service provider.

    “The review took place at the NBA National Secretariat in the course of the last two days (Thursday 19 and Friday 20 July 2018) and all relevant stakeholders were invited including the candidates, their technical advisers and some of our members who have raised these concerns or made allegations.

    “The review process was conducted openly with the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) in the presence of National officers, the Presidential Candidates and some other Candidates, their IT experts and technical advisers and other stakeholders. The e-voting platform service provider; Chams Plc., the Independent ICT Expert Adviser to the ECNBA and other observers were also present.

    “The process involved an extensive review of the selection process of the service provider, modalities for the NBA Elections, technical presentations on the e-voting platform to be deployed including its security architecture and deliberations on the alleged relationship between the e-voting service provider and one of the candidates.

    “Sequel to the review exercise, the NBA President held further consultations on July 20, 2018 with past Presidents, past General Secretaries and the Chairman of the ECNBA to which all the presidential candidates were invited and were in attendance.

    “These consultations became necessary to listen to and address all concerns and to arrive at the best decision in the overall interest of the NBA and the legal profession while ensuring the credibility of the process and the outcome.

    At the end of these consultative processes, the following observations/findings were made: “The selection process conducted by the ECNBA for the service provider of the e-voting platform; Chams Plc. was transparent and credible. The ECNBA acted independently in the above selection process and did not enter into any communication with, nor was it influenced by any elected or appointed officers of the NBA in the selection of the e-voting platform service provider for the election.

    “An introductory letter from Chams Plc. sent to the NBA National Secretariat on Friday, February 9,  was received in the normal course of business but was neither acted upon nor passed on to ECNBA and had no relevance to the decision taken by the ECNBA in the selection process.

    “The cross board membership of the chairman of board of the e-voting platform service provider (Chams Plc.) and an aspirant for theoffice of NBA resident did not constitute any material conflict of interest that would affect the credibility of the electronic voting process or the outcome of the elections.

    “The allegation that the e-voting service provider had conducted a flawed election for a similar professional association, ICAN was satisfactorily explained as the service provider has continued to conduct elections for that association subsequent to those issues;

    “The consultative meetings and the review exercise nevertheless revealed that the voter verification process was unsatisfactory and in order to address this and perception problems which have been created, it was necessary to take measures to reinforce confidence in the electoral process. The following measures were accordingly resolved to be implemented:

    “The electoral processes shall be disaggregated into three stages and each stage shall be handled by separate entities or service providers duly appointed by the ECNBA. The three stages are:

    “Pre-election: process of compilation and verification/validation of list of voters;

    “Election: the deployment of the e-voting platform for NBA elections Post-election: an audit of the electoral processes

    The ECNBA will undertake a holistic review of the voter verification process to ensure that all issues and complaints are satisfactorily resolved and may engage an independent entity or service provider for that purpose; the revalidated voter data shall be deployed on the electronic voting platform for the conduct of the 2018 NBA National Elections; and use of the validated voter data may be monitored by the ECNBA and representatives of the aspirants pre, during and post-elections.

    “The e-voting service provider appointed by the ECNBA; Chams Plc. shall be limited to the deployment of the e-voting platform for NBA elections, which it has already developed and is ready to deploy. The ECNBA will develop a post-election audit framework and process and may engage an independent entity for that purpose;

    “The ECNBA will ensure that an appropriate review of the integrity of the election portal or voting platform is undertaken and all necessary steps taken to reinforce the security and integrity of the portal/platform and the relevant applications;

    “The ECNBA will ensure that the candidates and their technical representatives are given appropriate access to all processes and given opportunity to make input/observations at all stages of the process.

    In view of the above consensus and pursuant to the powers to issue guidelines for the verification of voters and the general conduct of electronic voting, vested in the

    ECNBA under Article 2.4 (c) of the Second Schedule of the 2015 NBA Constitution, the ECNBA will review the election time table and make appropriate adjustments, ensuring that elections are conducted not later than Tuesday, July 31 as provided for in the NBA Constitution.

  • NBA unveils 2018 conference logo

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has unveiled the logo of its Annual General Conference which will hold in Abuja from August 26 to 30.

    Its theme is: Transition, transformation and sustainable institutions.

    NBA president Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) said the theme was apt considering that the country was preparing for elections next year.

    He said it broadens last year’s theme: African Business: Penetrating through institution building to address contemporary issues of transition and transformation, not only in Nigeria and the continent, but globally.

    “Last year a total of 12,248 delegates attended the conference (the largest number in the history of the association). There were 52 sessions and 142 speakers (both local and international),” he said.

    He said the Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) would make room for more delegates, considering last year’s experience.

    “The NBA conference has become a pivotal platform to discuss key national issues in line with our constitutional mandate.

    “We intend to make it an excellent platform not only for just lawyers but for all leaders of thought and groups in and around the country and continent.

    “NBA is now one of the largest professional associations on the African continent, and its conferences are arguably one of the largest gathering of lawyers anywhere in the world,” Mahmoud said.

    According to him, last year’s conference held in Lagos was successful, but there was still room for improvement in terms of content, reach, depth and speakers.

    He said the association partnered with the British Nigerian Law Forum (BNLF) in terms of sourcing resource persons and coming up with the theme and sub-themes.

    The American Bar Association (ABA) will hold a special session during the conference, while other law societies, Bar associations and councils are expected.

    TCCP Chairman Mr George Etomi said the theme empasses issues such as political transition and governance, sustainable economic development, diversity and inclusion, tecahnological disruptions and the rule of law and security.

    “The keynote speech will be delivered by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is not only a lawyer but also one of the most eloquent leaders that the continent can boast of.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari has also been invited with the belief that in a pre-election year, he would be delighted to engage the public through the NBA in a one-on-one conversation about the state of the nation.

    “Former Head of State Gen.  Abdulsalam Abubakar who handled smooth transition of power from military to civilian rule in a very difficult time in the history of the country is also one of the speakers expected at the conference.”

    Other speakers, he said, include Comrade Isa Aremu, Ms. Ayo Obe, Dr Yemi Kale, Bode Agusto, Kirsty Brimelow, Laurie Kleiman, Nuru Lemu, Phillip Hackett, Suleiman Abubakar, Jim Ovia, among others.

    Etomi said the conference would provide a forum for the youth to be heard against the backdrop of the Not Too Young To Run Act.

    Unveiling the logo and website (nbaconference.com), Etomi said registration can only be done online.

    He said the website is very user friendly and requires simple steps to register.

    Over 1000 delegates have registered so far, he said, adding that conference materials will be better than tablets.

    He said interactive apps that will enable delegates follow all the sessions and ask questions, which will be beamed live at the conference, will be deployed for delegates’ use. He said flash drives that would contain all the conference materials will be made available to delegates.

    He said the earlier lawyers register, the more benefits they can derive from the conference, because many things will be on first come, first served basis.

  • Police, NBA pledge harmonious relationship

    Lagos State Police Commissioner (CP) Edgar Imohimi has reiterated the determination of the command to partner with lawyers.

    Imohimi spoke when the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Welfare Secretary Mr Adesina Adegbite visited him.

    He said the command has established good relationship with the five NBA branches in the state and developed a way of settling issues between them without rancour.

    He assured the NBA national officer that the Police would respond to any issue  that might arise between them.

    Adegbite told Imohimi that the visit was informed by recent skirmishes between the Police and some members of the bar.

    He said, for instance, that aside from the issue of Adeyemi Abijo of Ikeja Branch of the NBA, the association also received complaints  from other branches of the NBA, including Ikorodu Branch,  of assault meted on them by some officers of the Police.

    He said there was need for continuous engagement between  them to avert a reoccurrence of similar incidences.

    Adegbite said: “Police should be seen by every citizen as a force they can trust and have confidence in and be able to walk up to them and lay their complaints without any fear.

    “If they see them as a threat, information that could be helpful in their duties will be kept away from them.”

    He cited an incident that happened in Ajah two months ago in which a lawyer was pulled out of a car by some police officers, in the process of which the vehicle ran over his legs.

    He suggested continuous training of all cadres of the state command, adding that the NBA was willing to provide resources to assist in the training.

    Adegbite praised Imohimi for the manner he responded to issues involving lawyers.

    “Your record has been very encouraging so far. Your rapid response to complaints has been impressive too. It shows how a modern police should be run and that we have a fine and decent police officer running our command.

    “When we have good leaders of reference, then we can have good officers in the force,” he said.

    Adegbite disclosed that the national leaders of the NBA were also making efforts to see the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris to discuss ways of improving their relationship.

    Others who accompanied Adegbite on the visit include NBA, Ikeja Branch Welfare Secretary Banke Tanimowo; Young Lawyers Forum Chairman Charles Ajiboye; his deputy, Adetunji Akinyemi;  Nelly Silver-Ajalaye and Oladipo Ajayi.