‘I’M NOT SURPRISED AKPATA WON’ – CHIJIOKE OKOLI

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

Bar Leader and former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch Chairman, Mr. Chijioke Okoli SAN has given a pass mark to the just concluded NBA Elections, saying he is not surprised that tier-one solicitor, Mr. Olumide Akpata won the presidential poll.

In an interview with CITY LAWYER, the fiery litigator stated that circumstances conspired to hand-over the mantle to NBA President-elect, even as he urged Akpata’s opponents to join hands with him to move the Bar forward.

His words:

“The election seems to be a significant improvement from the last one in which I could not even vote. Without prejudice to whatever genuine complaints some others may have, it was transparent in my view especially with the real-time results as the voting went on.

“It is therefore proper to commend the election committee for a good job. I know my Learned Brother Silk Chief Tawo as man of integrity, and he did not disappoint.

“As for the results, that of the President did not surprise me. Olu Akpata, truth be told, worked hardest and longest of all the contestants. And he rode the crest wave of the long lingering disenchantment of many – especially the vast horde of young lawyers – with the Bar status quo; an aspect of which is the bitterness some lawyers have for the institution of SAN and which was exacerbated by Otunba Awomolo’s rather unfortunate leaked letter to Chief Onomigbo Okpoko.

“Having said that, Olu proved with not only his top-tier firm and his stint in NBA-SBL that he possesses remarkable administrative capacity and vision. I congratulate him heartily as well as the winners of the other positions.

“I’m sure that if Olu works on the desk of NBA Presidency as hard as he campaigned for it then his tenure should be a refreshing and uplifting one for Nigerian lawyers. His cosmopolitan background and outlook should serve well in uniting a badly divided bar, including the seeming marginalization of the South West in the scheme of things. I’m sure he knows that a lot is expected of him, with the young lawyers especially investing fervent hope in his tenure for significant positive change in their professional fortunes.

“His task is enormous on many fronts, especially in leading the fight for the rule of law and enthronement of minimum standards in our administration of justice which are sadly lacking at the moment. The elections are over and we all remain friends at the Bar.

“I would urge all, especially his esteemed co-contestants and their supporters to rally round him to construct an NBA which works for all.

“Finally, the contest for the Assistant Secretary was such a closely fought one as to partake of an electoral thriller.”

Okoli had endorsed Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN in the run-up to the elections.

It is recalled that the Chairman of the Mr. Tawo Eja Tawo SAN had on July 31, 2020 declared Akpata as winner of the NBA presidential election held on July 29 or 30, 2020.

According to the ECNBA Chairman, Akpata polled 9,891 or 54.3 per cent votes to beat his closest rival, Ajibade SAN who garnered 4,328 (23.8 per cent) votes. Mr. Dele Adesina SAN polled 3,982 votes (21.9 per cent) to bring up the rear.  Adesina had a few hours to the end of the election demanded cancellation of the poll, saying it was fraught with infractions. The election was held via ElectionBuddy, an electronic voting software deployed by Edmonton, Canada based firm.

Though a total of 29,636 lawyers were accredited for the election, only 18,256 or 62 per cent of the voters succeeded in casting their ballots.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

NBA TRUSTEES TO HEAR ADESINA’S ELECTION PETITION TODAY

EMEKA NWADIOKE

There are strong indications that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Board of Trustees (BOT) will today begin hearing in the petition filed by Mr. Dele Adesina SAN against the declaration of Mr. Olumide Akpata as winner of the recent NBA National Officers Elections.

It is expected that the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) will appear before the panel to present its case against Adesina’s petition. A member of the committee told CITY LAWYER at the weekend that the board was scheduled to sit on the petition today, saying: “BOT is meeting on Monday. We are expected to formally adopt our response before them.”

It is recalled that Adesina had petitioned the electoral committee alleging irregularities and demanding a cancellation of the poll. In a letter to ECNBA Chairman dated 30th July, 2020 and personally signed by him, Adesina stated that the voters’ list “contained grave errors of omission and commission,” listing some of the errors as:

  1. Names of purported Lawyers without Branches ascribed to them from Serial Number 25171 to 29635;
  2. Names of Lawyers under the subheading “International Diaspora” from Serial Number 12182 to 12268. A clear violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the NBA;
  3. Inflation of the List of some Branches. For instance, Obollo-Afor Branch on the Final List for Verification had only 39 names on the List from Serial Number 30424 to 30462. Strangely, this increased to 662 on the Verified List;
  4. Deletion of Names of Members removed from the Final List;
  1. Many Members names found their way to Branches other than their own Branch.

He however queried why it was NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN that responded to his complaint as against the committee. He then petitioned the trustees.

In a petition dated 2nd August, 2020 and addressed to BOT Chairman, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, Adesina stated that he “had the privilege of joining others to build the NBA before some of the god-fathers who are plunging the NBA into avoidable crisis today ever became involved in the affairs of the Association.”

Other members of the BOT are former NBA Presidents Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) and Augustine Alegeh (SAN), a former NBA General Secretary Obafemi Adewale and longstanding Bar Leader, Hajia Fatima Kwaku. Instructively, while Daudu threw his weight behind Adesina in the run-up to the election, Adewale endorsed Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN as the best man for the job. On his part, though Alegeh did not openly align with Akpata, he is said to be perhaps his most influential backer, even as he congratulated the NBA President-elect even before he was officially decalred as a winner of the election. 

Citing alleged infractions of the NBA Constitution 2015 (as amended), the erstwhile presidential candidate said: “Our I.C.T. Consultants informed us that though the voting site might have appeared credible on the surface as a decoy, it is apparent to state that the data uploaded to the site was programmed and preconfigured to achieve a premeditated result in an obvious case of data diddling.”

According to Adesina, “it is apparent to state that the data uploaded to the site was programmed and preconfigured to achieve a premeditated result in an obvious case of data diddling.”

In the petition titled “Re: The Nigerian Bar Association 2020 National Officers Election: A case of classical electronic fraud, illegal and unconstitutional process: call for cancellation and a new election conducted for the Nigerian Bar Association (nba)” and copied to all the trustees and NBA past presidents, Adesina warned that “The time has come to regain the integrity of the Nigerian Bar Association by putting an end to unconstitutional and fraudulent elections in our Association.”

It is recalled that the Chairman of the Mr. Tawo Eja Tawo SAN had on July 31, 2020 declared Akpata as winner of the NBA presidential election held on July 29 or 30, 2020.

According to the ECNBA Chairman, Akpata polled 9,891 or 54.3 per cent votes to beat his closest rival, Ajibade who garnered 4,328 (23.8 per cent) votes. Adesina polled 3,982 votes (21.9 per cent) to bring up the rear.  Adesina had a few hours to the end of the election demanded cancellation of the poll, saying it was fraught with infractions. The election was held via ElectionBuddy, an electronic voting software deployed by Edmonton, Canada based firm.

Though a total of 29,636 lawyers were accredited for the election, only 18,256 or 62 per cent of the voters succeeded in casting their ballots.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

SHOCKER! NBA ELECTION PORTAL RESULT TALLIES WRONG

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

• ALSO, MORE VOTERS ON PORTAL THAN ON VOTERS’ REGISTER

The tally of votes on the election portal deployed for the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Election is incorrect, CITY LAWYER can authoritatively report.

Also, the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) uploaded more voters than the number of voters published by the committee in its final verified voters’ register.

For the presidential race, while the election portal records that 18, 201 votes tallied and 54 abstentions were from “18, 256 ballots,” a tally of the votes and abstentions by CITY LAWYER shows that the correct total is 18,255 ballots. This shows that the total ballots shot up by one ballot.

When CITY LAWYER tallied the ballots for the post of 1st Vice President, the same error margin recurred. While the election portal hosted by ElectionBuddy, a world class election company, tallied the 17, 312 ballots and 943 abstentions at a total 18, 256 ballots, the actual figure is 18, 255 ballots.

For the post of 2nd Vice President, the election portal tallied the 15, 442 votes and 2,813 abstentions again at 18, 256 ballots as against the correct tally of 18, 255 ballots.

The tally for the post of General Secretary is not different. While ElectionBuddy tallied the 17, 941 ballots and 314 abstentions at 18, 256 ballots, the actual figure is again 18, 255 ballots, showing that the tally shot up by one ballot.

The error recurs for all the posts, including the uncontested posts such as Treasurer and Financial Secretary. The posts that suffered the same “mystery one vote” gap include Welfare Secretary, Publicity Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Publicity Secretary.

Meanwhile, the voters register deployed for the election may have exceeded the register used for the election again by one voter. While the ECNBA had in its “ECNBA STATEMENT N0. 018 ACCREDITED VOTERS LIST” declared the number of verified voters on the register as 29, 635, the records on the election portal show that 29, 636 voters were uploaded on the election platform. The notice on the election portal reads that 18, 256 ballots were “submitted of 29636 eligible voters.” 

It is recalled that the electoral committee had while announcing the number of verified voters on the final voters’ register said: “Further to the publication of the full list of legal practitioners qualified to vote, the ECNBA now presents a total of 29,635 verified and duly accredited members who have fulfilled all requirements for voting in the NBA National Officers elections 2020.”

When CITY LAWYER sought an explanation on the wrong ballot tallies from the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), its Secretary Cordelia Eke promised to provide an explanation. However, despite repeated reminders, this was not made available at press time.

Former NBA presidential candidate, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN had petitioned the NBA Board of Trustees over the elections, alleging rigging and other irregularities. In a petition dated 2nd August, 2020 Adesina stated that “Our I.C.T. Consultants informed us that though the voting site might have appeared credible on the surface as a decoy, it is apparent to state that the data uploaded to the site was programmed and preconfigured to achieve a premeditated result in an obvious case of data diddling.”

Continuing, Adesina said: “Right from the outset of the election and up till the end of same, all the candidates virtually maintained the same percentage of votes relative to each other and the total votes cast. This fact alone is indicative of the possibility of a system which was programmed towards a predetermined result. A close examination of the recorded result at different timelines shows percentage movement of the Presidential Candidates as 54%, 23% and 21% with little or no variation. The system was obviously programmed to distribute votes at either +1 or – 1 throughout the 24 hour period. According to the Interim Report of our Technical Team, “statistically, the voting result showed no randomness of any sort, which raises the question of whether there was no tampering of votes.” ”

According to results announced by ECNBA Chairman, Mr. Tawo Eja Tawo SAN, Mr. Olumide Akpata polled 9, 891 or 54.3 per cent votes to beat his closest rival, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN who garnered 4,328 (23.8 per cent) votes.  Adesina polled 3, 982 votes (21.9 per cent) to bring up the rear. Adesina had a few hours to the end of the election demanded cancellation of the poll, saying it was fraught with irregularities. 

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

AKPATA DISOWNS ATTACKS ON POLITICAL OPPONENTS

Nigerian Bar Association President-elect, Mr. Olumide Akpata has warned his supporters to desist from lampooning opponents while celebrating his victory at the poll.

In a post trending on social media, Akpata chided “my supporters who have unnecessarily targeted and excoriated our colleagues for no just cause,” and warned that such attitude would detract from his quest to forge a united Bar. He noted that “a divided Bar is a defeated Bar.”

It is recalled that some senior lawyers have expressed worry at what they perceive as disrespect from juniors in relation to the recent NBA Elections. Fiery longstanding NBA Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa SAN has penned several statements on the subject, even as CITY LAWYER yesterday reported a searing indictment of erstwhile NBA presidential candidate, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN by Akpata’s accredited agent at the elections, Mr. Aderemi Oguntoye.

The full text of Akpata’s statement is below.

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few days, I have observed with concern the rising tide of social media vitriol by a few lawyers believed to be my supporters who have unnecessarily targeted and excoriated our colleagues for no just cause. Whilst I deeply appreciate everyone who contributed to my emergence as President-elect of the NBA, I do not subscribe to showing disrespect to other people because they did not support my candidacy. Ours is a noble profession that prides itself on the high sense of discipline, learning, respect for seniority and character for which its members are reputed.

The mandate that I have from Nigerian lawyers is to work for ALL members of the Bar irrespective of who they voted for in the just concluded elections. In my acceptance speech, I made the obvious point that there is so much work to be done to revitalise our Bar and make it work for everyone without discrimination. This enormous task cannot be achieved if we continue to fan the embers of division at a time when we desperately need to unite and speak with one firm voice.

I therefore use this medium to appeal to our colleagues (both junior and senior) who supported me to show respect to seniors and peers whilst celebrating last week’s electoral victory. We must be kind, magnanimous, respectful and sensitive by our words and actions. This is because doing otherwise would be a great disservice to our vision of building a stronger and formidable Bar. The electioneering season is far behind us. Now is the time to come together because a divided Bar is a defeated Bar.

I leave you with the words of the legendary Henry Ford who said: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

If we truly want to make progress and ultimately succeed as a Bar, then we have a responsibility to show respect to one another and stay together as one. The time to do this is now.
Olumide Akpata

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

‘GIVEN WHAT I KNOW, NBA ELECTION LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED’ – FORENSIC EXPERT

  • HOSTING RESULTS ON NBA PORTAL OPENS SYSTEM TO MANIPULATION

  • NUMBER OF UNDELIVERED NOTICES IS STAGGERING BY ANY PARAMETER

  • I DON’T BELIEVE PORTAL CAN SEND 5 NOTICES TO A VOTER

  • IT’S LAUGHABLE TO BLAME DND FOR UNDELIVERED NOTICES

Dr. Dominic Ehiwe is a Consultant in digital forensics & open source intelligence as well as an investigator for software, technology and intellectual rights violations. He works in the domain of information security, project management and quality control and assurance. He is Managing Partner of EON-Peace Consult Limited, a digital forensic investigation, information security consulting and IP rights violation investigation and litigation support services provider. He is also Executive Partner with ENSOPAR Forensic & Partners, a tax, audit and forensic accounting practice.

He is a certified Software Analysis & Forensic Engineering (SAFE, USA) software & tech intellectual property violation investigator, litigation support consultant and expert witness. Ehiwe has an Advanced Diploma in Forensic Accounting & Criminal Intelligence (FACI) from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. A member of Computer Forensic Institute of Nigeria, Ehiwe facilitates part-time a fully hands-on digital forensics investigation training course with the Institute of Advanced Forensics (IAF) in collaboration with the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He also serves as a resource person with the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) and presents at conferences.

Ehiwe received a doctorate degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems specialization (Ph.D MIS) from Babcock University and a Master’s degree in Computing from Birmingham City University, England in 2014. Earlier in 2006, he received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Statistics Major) from the University of Abuja. He has participated in many professional trainings and received several certifications in Information technology, project and risk management.

In this interview with EMEKA NWADIOKE, he speaks on the recent NBA Elections and the controversies that have trailed the elections.

Please tell us briefly about yourself.
I am Dr. Dominic Ehiwe. I practice as a Consultant in digital forensics & open source intelligence as well as an investigator for software & technology and intellectual rights violation.

Before the NBA Elections, you had an interactive session with a group of lawyers under the aegis of LEGAL TORCHBEARERS where you set out the key requirements to ensure that the 2020 NBA Election was free, fair, credible and transparent. Can you give us a brief recap of those requirements?
The session was a discussion about online voting and ways to ensure security and guarantee the integrity of the votes cast. We had discussed some key requirements. These measures include:
• Have a unique means of identifying every vote cast.
• Have a stakeholder agreed list of requirements that meets your need as a body and by which you measure the outcome.
• Ensure people do not vote more than once from a single device (This is possible to achieve)
• The system and process should cater for multiple levels of authorization to avoid a single individual hijacking the results.
• There should be mock trial of the election platform so you know what to expect during the real exercise.
• Have a process in place by which the results are auditable.

How would you rate ELECTIONBUDDY an election software provider?
To be candid, I know nothing about the service provider besides what you and I read about them online. Besides, I only knew who the provider was when one of your colleagues told me the election had held and the results published. I learnt it is a company based in the US. Hearing it’s a US based company, I checked to know more about the provider and see what information is available about their services. I did note though there is no form of contact information on their site detailing location information and other basic info one would expect of a service provider located in the US. To me, such businesses can be located anywhere and claim a different geographical location.

At the close of ballot, out of the 29,636 eligible voters, 18,256 or 62% ballots were submitted while 15,234 notices were declared as “undeliverable.” What is your view on this statistics?
I was sent the link to the results via WhatsApp and the first thing I noticed was the figure indicated as undeliverable notices. I recall showing my spouse the details on my phone and her first question was were these phone numbers or email addresses not verified before the votes were cast? That number is staggering by whatever parameter you choose to look at or rate it. Moreover, at that point I didn’t have much information about how verification for the exercise was done but I knew that figure would raise questions about the process.

Given that there were 29,636 eligible voters, will you consider that 28,525 emails and 17,887 SMS are adequate?
My thought is why this disparity between the Email and SMS figures sent to eligible voters? I do not expect members of your community with valid emails not to have valid mobile numbers as well. I do not know if some of you submitted emails only and others phone numbers which may likely account for this disparity. Also, the question is, did those to vote not know the exercise was to hold and have their mobile lines switched on to receive notifications about the exercise? Perhaps, the organizers can provide better answers to these if there is any justification for the differences. In addition, supposing I receive both email and SMS notification as someone eligible to vote, what gets counted for me if I go ahead to vote using both medium? But as I said the service provider or organizers can better explain this.

The results of the election were migrated to NBA server (https://go.nigerianbar.org.ng/Results) at some point in the election. What is your opinion on this?
This is interesting to note. I would expect any form of migration be done after and not during the exercise. Besides, one would need to review the NBA server logs to be able to confirm at what point data was migrated or shared between your systems and that of the service provider. However, from a security perspective, I would expect such migration to be after the exercise. I say this from a data security and assurance perspective. If any foul play was to take place, it could have been achieved when the records are in the systems of the party with ulterior motives. That being said, I would like to leave it at simply saying I perhaps would expect to see more relevant information to make better judgement.

Is the fact that evidence of voting was not received by the voter either via email or SMS of any consequence?
This I believe is part of the requirements that should have been verified before the exercise. In my session with your colleagues on the forum, I had mentioned the need to have a stakeholder agreed list of requirements. I feel strongly this should have been part of the checks and balance criteria to judge the transparency of an exercise like this.

The candidates allege lack of information regarding the Service Provider and the Election portal. Is this a valid charge?
This is a red flag that should have been addressed. Perhaps a mock trial of the election system could have been conducted. I believe the organizing body could have arranged for an exercise like this involving select representatives of all stakeholders. A body like the NBA could work something out, I like to hope. While there are no perfect elections or systems anywhere, more visibility about the service provider and their platform would have helped.

The election management body (ECNBA) did not reveal the election software provider to the candidates. The candidates did not also witness a test run of the election portal. What is your view on this?
To me, this is unacceptable? It paints the picture of something to hide. I leave it at that.

A presidential candidate in the elections alleged that the service provider was unable to deliver 14,000 notices to prospective voters 13 hours after the commencement of the Election. If true, is this sufficient to invalidate the election?
This raises questions about the integrity of the process. It raises concerns about how voters were verified for the exercise and those whose votes are returned as valid? From an observer point of view, I like to know what notices were given to members about the process to carry everyone along. However, about invalidating the election, I had advised your colleagues about having the rules by which invalidating the process is to be done or pursued. My opinion aligns with what your body agreed on this.

There are questions around the authenticity of the voters’ register. However, the Electoral Committee states that the use of a ‘unique identifier’ such as each voter’s Supreme Court Number made manipulation or over voting impossible. How true is this, moreso as the Supreme Court Number is largely in the public domain?
Having a unique identifier is insufficient. What is the essence of a unique identifier if I can vote multiple times? One needs to know in detail the security measures put in place to prevent people from voting more than once or using invalid or non-existing SCN to vote. Are you able to tell that the service provider’s platform validates the SCN of your members? These are questions that should have been asked and answered.

The final voters’ register used for the Election was released by the Electoral Committee about five (5) hours to the election. Is this sufficient to invalidate the register or the election?
This is laughable. If that is the case, I am confident to answer in the affirmative. Five hours? To verify accuracy of the records in 5 hours? For a body like yours?

A case of data diddling has been alleged, as especially the presidential candidates were said to have maintained the same percentage of votes relative to each other and the total votes cast throughout the election. It is alleged that the system was programmed to distribute votes at either +1 or –1, and that statistically, the voting result showed no randomness. What is your view on this?
I believe an independent auditing of the configurations agreed and set on the systems can show the real picture about this. I still like to stress that more visibility of the whole process would have helped. I also recall advising your forum colleagues on the need to have security professionals review the platform of the service provider. Perhaps, the election committee can tell you more about what checks were carried out.

About 38% of eligible voters could not cast their ballots as they did not receive voting links. How significant is this figure in an electronic voting system?
Very significant. This is close to half the number of eligible voters. This is significant enough to skew the results in a particular direction given the circumstances at play or engineered by anyone willing to achieve pre-defined objectives.

The NBA states that the 15,234 “undelivered notices” represent aggregate of undeliverable notices that were sent to each Verified Voter through the two notification channels – SMS and emails. It also represents the aggregate number of blasts of such notices to each of the affected Verified Voter. It states that there was a minimum of 5 blasts of notices to each voter or an aggregate 10 undeliverable notices, made up of 5 SMS and 5 e-mails – but did not represent the number of persons whose notices were not delivered. What is your view on this?
I do not believe the service provider runs an application system capable or configured to do this. I know the standard number of retry notifications application servers or services send is at most 2 to 3 notifications. One would need to see the service level agreement agreed with the provider to confirm this. Also, there are server logs that should show the number of notices sent. But to say five notices for that number of recipients begs for justification.

Do you agree with NBA’s assertion that the inability to deliver notices to voters was not attributable to the Election Platform, but to NBA’s poor database and the activation of DND in some voters’ mobile phones?
It is laughable to mention DND on mobile phones of members of a body looking forward to vote in an election. Did these people stop receiving messages before the election or had DND set for notices from the NBA prior to the exercise? Like I said, what was communicated to members prior to the election? How much sensitization was done about the whole process and what, as stakeholders, everyone had to do to achieve a fair exercise?

Do you agree with NBA’s view that the election was free, fair and credible because the link to each voter was unique and non-transferable, and it was also not possible to vote more than once using a single link?
Besides unique link and non-transferability of the link to vote, can we attest to a case of non-eligible or non-existing members not having participated in the election? The vote records are available somewhere. When in doubt, I believe further review should be possible to clarify the doubts where necessary.

Given what you know about the election, will you consider it as free, fair, credible and transparent, and why?
Based on what I know and have read from your members about the verification process and how the exercise was conducted, it leaves much to be desired in terms of credibility. I believe the organizers know this as well.

What are your suggestions for future NBA elections?
Be better organized and transparent. Involve relevant stakeholders in the process. Thank you.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

AKPATA’S AIDE BLASTS ADESINA OVER NBA ELECTION

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

  • SAYS ‘HE PREPARED TO FAIL’

  • ‘HIS AGENT ONLY CAME TO SITUATION ROOM TO SUBMIT PETITION’

The controversies trailing the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections took a new turn today following a fierce indictment of erstwhile presidential candidate, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN by an aide of NBA President-elect, Mr. Olumide Akpata.

It is recalled that Adesina had petitioned NBA Trustees, urging them to cancel the election due to alleged irregularities. Influential Yoruba lawyers’ forum, Egbe Amofin O’odua has also joined the fray, saying: “In clear terms, the Egbe Amofin rejects the purported results declared by the Election Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).” CITY LAWYER also reported that the forum has placed a gag order on its members on the election, even as it appointed Mr. Femi Falana SAN and Chief Niyi Akintola SAN as its spokespersons on the election.

Apparently responding to the barrage of criticisms relating to the election, Mr. Aderemi Oguntoye, Akpata’s “Accredited Agent” at the ECNBA Situation Room for the election, blasted Adesina, saying he was “prepared to fail.”

In a trending post on social media, Oguntoye said Adesina “strongly believed he’s entitled to be handed the Bar Presidency since he served with Olanipekun as Gen-Sec and Olanipekun and Egbe endorsed him.” He stated that the former NBA General Secretary “didn’t realise that Egbe’s influence had limitations and it was actually counterproductive in the preceding circumstances of the endorsement.”

The ranking Akpata associate also noted that Adesina’s camp was aloof as regards tracking of the electoral process, adding that “the first time we had a glimpse of Adesina’s representatives was when they arrived in the afternoon of 30th July with the sole purpose of submitting their petition and this was well over 14 hours into the election.”

The full text of Oguntoye’s post is below:

Guys, pls calm down! Sustained grievance can lead to cancer. Quote me.

Adesina prepared to fail. Ask me why?

He strongly believed he’s entitled to be handed the Bar Presidency since he served with Olanipekun as Gen-Sec and Olanipekun and Egbe endorsed him. Adesina didn’t realise that Egbe’s influence had limitations and it was actually counterproductive in the preceding circumstances of the endorsement. My friends, endorsement doesn’t win elections, preparation does. *In the 21st century, nobody hands power, influence to you. You go for it.* You’ll be shocked to know that some junior lawyers in Adesina and probably Chief Olanipekun’s law firms actually voted Akpata. *The junior lawyers (age 21-33 yrs) don’t understand tribal sentiments,which our seniors are preaching on Egbe’s platforms, what they understand is Instagram and Tiktok and that’s the language OLU spoke to them* .😊😉

Pointer to Adesina’s preparation to fail:

On Wednesday 29th when the election was about to commence, ECNBA officials addresed candidates’ representatives btw 10:50pm-11:05pm. They explained the reason why they froze candidates from knowing ahead of time, the cyber platform to be utilised for the election. They basically guarded against likely direct interference by candidates with the platform/server providers (US company called Election Buddy). *Interestingly, Adesina’s representatives were absent.* At 1am, we (Ajibade’s agent and myself) were invited to ECNBA’s local tech room at the NBA house. They wanted to show us round in order to assure us that the ongoing election back up tech installation was free from manipulation.

You know what’s shocking? Adesina’s rep/agent was still no where to be found.* At about 1:30 am when the results platform temporarily froze, I agitatively rushed up to the ECNBA server room and the officials put a call through to the Americans hosting the main computation server, who later assured us that the link will come back on. They had to quickly re-configure the refreshing timing, since there was more traffic on the result link than voting link. They were overwhelmed by the number of lawyers and non-lawyers following up on the results even at 1:30am.

By 7:30am, I enquired from the ECNBA officials whether they had independent officials and they informed me that they had sent the link to nothing less than 7 Judges/Justices of different courts amongst other observers for monitoring.

Guys, the first time we had a glimpse of Adesina’s representatives was when they arrived in the afternoon of 30th July with the sole purpose of submitting their petition and this was well over 14 hours into the election.

Please, let no one fool us because we are a very intelligent people and we shouldn’t be swayed by Adesina’s pre-planned reaction. The fellow doesn’t wish to go into oblivion without some noise. My inclination is that he either overestimated his chances or he knew he would lose. *How do you explain his inability to present a situation room representative as required by the ECNBA?

Enough said for now.

Aderemi Oguntoye

Olumide Akpata’s Accredited Agent at the ECNBA Situation Room at the just concluded NBA Elections

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

‘NBA ELECTION WAS RIGGED,’ SAYS OKUTEPA

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

• ‘NBA LEADERSHIP TOOK LAWYERS TO SLAUGHTER SLAB’

Longstanding Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chief Prosecutor at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), Mr. Jibrin Okutepa SAN at the weekend took a hard look at the just concluded NBA Elections and declared that it was rigged.

In a reaction made available exclusively to CITY LAWYER, the fiery senior lawyer and staunch supporter of the candidacy of Mr. Dele Adesina SAN said: “But let me tell you as I had said before that this election will be rigged and it has been rigged.”

He accused the NBA leadership of taking lawyers for granted and being secretive about the process, saying: “As lawyers we were led to the slaughter slab and we followed blindly.”

Reviewing the election, Okutepa said: “What other reaction do I have than to keep calm and see what the leadership that has been foisted on the Bar will do in the next two years.

“We are degenerating in integrity and honesty in the legal profession in geometric proportions. The Bar is divided now. The house we have is on shaking grounds. But let me tell you as I had said before that this election will be rigged and it has been rigged.

“The fragrant breach of NBA constitution is legendary in this election. The processes leading to this election were product of constitutional iniquities. The leadership of the Bar took everyone for granted and did what it did in the most secret manner. As lawyers we were led to the slaughter slab and we followed blindly.

“Misconduct was not punished. But we need to make examples of those who are dragging the nobility of this profession to the muds. Indiscipline is being celebrated and we think that is part of freedom. I weep for the legal profession.

“Many young lawyers are busy happy abusing the elders and they are happy doing it. But we all were once young lawyers. The nobility of the legal profession is in respect for the ethics and etiquette of the profession. But that is far gone now in our profession.”

Continuing, the Bar Leader said: “The days cometh when this once noble profession will bounce back in glory. That is when the rots in the profession will be addressed,” adding that those who “won” should be “kind enough to interrogate the processes that threw them on the Bar.” He warned that those who “lost” must not be “mocked,” saying: “For me there is nothing new. I had said before that we will see what we have now.”

Okutepa had told CITY LAWYER before the elections that “I do not see what we will do differently when the rigging that characterized the last election was not addressed.” Hinting that the election managers may tow a pre-determined line, Okutepa said: “Those who have the capacity to appoint the service providers will not heed any suggestions.” Asked the way forward, he said: “Until the Bar and its leadership decide to be honest and transparent with our electoral processes no suggestion will matter.”

It is recalled that Mr. Olumide Akpata was declared winner of the keenly contested presidential election. According to the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA), Akpata polled 9,891 or 54.3 per cent votes to beat his closest rival, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN who garnered 4,328 (23.8 per cent) votes. Adesina polled 3,982 votes (21.9 per cent) to bring up the rear. Adesina had a few hours to the end of the election demanded cancellation of the poll, saying it was fraught with irregularities. The election was held via ELECTIONBUDDY, an electronic voting software deployed by Edmonton, Canada based firm.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

EXCLUSIVE: EGBE AMOFIN CRACKS, GAGS MEMBERS ON NBA ELECTION

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

• EGBE BLOC CONGRATULATES AKPATA, ASSURES SUPPORT
• ADESINA PETITIONS NBA TRUSTEES 

Cracks have emerged within Egbe Amofin O’odua ranks as a major bloc in the influential regional group has congratulated Nigerian Bar Association President-elect, Mr. Olumide Akpata on his victory at the poll.

Meanwhile, there are strong indications that Egbe Amofin O’odua may have barred its members from commenting on the outcome of the NBA Elections. The gag order was made after a meeting of the group at the weekend, CITY LAWYER can authoritatively report. Firebrand human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana SAN is among the two persons appointed as spokespersons on the election.

Egbe Amofin ni Eko, the Lagos bloc of the group, has congratulated Akpata on his victory, assuring him of “our individual and collective support for your administration and for our noble mother association.”

The bloc had in the run-up to the hotly contested NBA Elections endorsed Adesina, saying: “We are true sons and daughters of Oduduwa and we stand on the decision of Egbe made in Ibadan over the endorsement of a single candidate. Another meeting of the Egbe is only 13 days away. Any aggrieved candidate should approach Egbe. But for us, we stand on the decision of the mother group.”

But in a statement made available to CITY LAWYER and signed by the Chairman of the bloc, Mr. Martin Ogunleye, it said: “On behalf of the leadership and members of Egbe Amofin ni Eko, I hereby convey to you our congratulations on your emergence as President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association.

“We are optimistic that your track record of service to the bar, especially as Chairman of the Section of Business Law, and your promise to take a 24 month sabbatical from law practice to serve the association, would be brought to bear to take our association, the NBA to greater heights.

“Please accept the assurances of our individual and collective support for your administration and for our noble mother association.”

While a leading member of the association had assured CITY LAWYER that he would proffer his opinion on the conduct of the election, things took a new today early today when he sent an apology saying: “I regret to inform you that we, members of Egbe Amofin ODUA have been barred from commenting, writing, granting interview and or posting on social media platforms any comment, write up and article on issues relating to the recently concluded NBA 2020 elections. Asiwaju Niyi Akintola, SAN and Femi Falana, SAN have been appointed as spokespersons for Yoruba Lawyers on the election. In deference to this directive, I will be resiling from my earlier commitment to send my write up on the election to your blog.

“The decision was taken at the last Egbe meeting held on Saturday. Please note that the directive affects only those who subscribed to Egbe Amofin ODUA ideals.”

It was unclear whether the gag order is linked to the congratulatory message by Egbe Amofin ni Eko. When CITY LAWYER contacted the Secretary of Egbe Amofin O’odua, Dr. John Akintayo at the time of going to press, he pleaded that he was “very busy” but assured that he would be available to speak subsequently.

It is recalled that Egbe Amofin O’odua had adopted Adesina as its sole candidate, even as erstwhile NBA presidential candidate, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN opted out of the adoption process, arguing that it was devoid of transparency.

Meanwhile, Adesina has again petitioned NBA Trustees on the outcome of the election. In his latest petition, the senior lawyer alleged that the election “breached the fundamental provisions of the NBA Constitution itself in material particulars,” adding that provisions on publication of the Voters Register 28 days and appointment of Service Provider by ECNBA were violated.

He also alleged that while the ECNBA is expected to be independent, “Representations made by me to the ECNBA were very strangely responded to personally by the NBA President without any such response from the ECNBA which was the primary addressee of the complaints. The entire election looked like it was a personal show or project of the incumbent President including selection/appointment of service providers et al. Mr. Chairman, sir, what the NBA President did by comparison can be likened to a situation where the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria conducts a Presidential election, hijacked the constitutional responsibilities by assuming the duties and responsibilities of INEC, appointing Service Providers, nominating and paying those who would print ballot papers, warehousing the ballot boxes, providing INEC Server etc.”

Continuing, he said: “In this connection, NBA will never be taken serious by Nigeria and Nigerians as well as other law associations outside our shores, including the International Bar Association (IBA) if these crass, abnormalities, illegalities and deliberate wholesale breach of our constitution are not redressed. Our dear Association must not be allowed to descend to opprobrium. We must not be made or subjected to a laughing stock.”

EGBE AMOFIN EKO

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

BUHARI, ATIKU, SARAKI, ODINKALU, OTHERS HAIL AKPATA

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

Encomiums have continued to pour in for Nigerian Bar Association President-elect, Mr. Olumide Akpata over his victory at the just concluded NBA National Officers Elections.

In his congratulatory message, President Muhammadu Buhari said: “I congratulate Olumide Akpata on his election as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), a crucial stakeholder in our democracy. I wish him every success in the new position, and assure the new leadership of the continued cooperation of our administration.”

Replying, Akpata said he was especially delighted that the president acknowledged NBA as a “crucial stakeholder in our democracy.” His words: “Your Excellency, thank you for your kind words, and in particular the acknowledgement of the @NigBarAssoc as a crucial stakeholder in our democracy and the assurance of your administration’s cooperation. It is a partnership that can only be beneficial to the Nigerian populace.”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said: “@OlumideAkpata’s victory at the just concluded @NigBarAssoc’s elections is proof that real power lies with the people. Congratulations, I am confident you will do well and also deliver convincingly on the mandate of which you now carry. –AA”

In his response, Akpata wrote: “Thank you Your Excellency @atiku. Indeed the people [lawyers] spoke, and in very clear terms too. Thank you for the vote of confidence. The real work starts now and it is my pledge that the mandate will be fulfilled and posterity will judge us well.”

Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki also felicitated with the NBA President-elect on his verified Twitter handle, saying: “I offer my congratulations to @OlumideAkpata on his emergence as President of the
@NigBarAssoc. His was a blistering campaign which promised to revolutionise and reposition the NBA, not only for the benefit of its members but for the generality of the Nigerian society.”

Replying, Akpata wrote: “Your Excellency Dr @bukolasaraki Floreat! It was truly a blistering campaign and one which soon became obviously not about any one individual but a cause for the majority of Nigerian lawyers (both young and old). I commit to not letting them down. KC did not teach us that.”

Next in line was the Governor of Edo State, Akpata’s home State. He wrote: ” Congratulations to @OlumideAkpata on his emergence as the President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). He brings with him years of enviable success as a distinguished lawyer and is sure to steer the NBA to glorious heights. Congratulations, once more!”

“My Governor @GovernorObaseki,” Akpata wrote, “thank you for your kind wishes. It will be a thing of pride for us to be able to steer the @NigBarAssoc to glorious heights and make it value adding for our members and the general society. That is our minimum target.”

Also not left out is the Governor of Delat State, Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, who tweeted thus: “I congratulate my friend and brother, Barrister @OlumideAkpata, on his emergence as the next President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Over the years, Barrister Akpata has worked to strengthen the legal profession and empower a new generation of Nigerian lawyers.

“As he prepares to steer the affairs of the NBA, it is my fervent hope that lawyers across Nigeria work with the new leadership of the NBA and Barrister Akpata to provide more efficient and effective access to justice for all Nigerians.”

In his response, Akpata tweeted: “Your Excellency @IAOkowa I appreciate the glowing endorsement. Indeed the hardwork is just about to start. We are optimistic of a new dawn for the @NigBarAssoc.”

Popular social media influencer, Dr. Joe Abah was not left out of the outpouring of encomiums. He tweeted: “Congratulations, my brother @OlumideAkpata, on your election as NBA President. Please celebrate tonight because there’s a lot of work ahead. The noble profession can be a real force for change in this country. You can count on my continuing support.”

Akpata responded thus: “My brother @DrJoeAbah thank you. The amount of work to be done has never been lost on me. Indeed the unprecedented interest in the election even among the wider populace lends credence to your point. I will be counting on you on this journey. Thank you again, Ezemmuo.”

Akpata also found favour in the eyes of Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, a strident critic of the current NBA leadership. Having reviewed Akpata’s acceptance speech, Odinkalu tweeted: “Olu, this is a balanced statement. I’m particularly gratified by what you say about the #electoralprocess in @NigBarAssoc. In that, you’ll find lots of willing supporters. Welcome to the world of work,
@OlumideAkpata.”

Replying, Akpata wrote: “Thank you Prof @ChidiOdinkalu. My message about the electoral process remained consistent, before and after the poll. Indeed we can do better. With the support of the likes of you, we will approach the coming months and years with confidence.”

The NBA President-elect also received a congratulatory message from erstwhile NBA presidential aspirant and former NBA Ikeja Branch Chairman, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana and his group, Radical Agenda Movement in the NBA (RAMINBA ). Tracing the debacle that attended his quest, the group wrote: “However the indisputable fact is that a Leader has emerged and it is one Leader, who, right from the onset, has always had a formidable presence in the field and a constant leading contestant.”

Akpata also acknowledged receipt of congratulatory telephone call from his closest rival and former NBA presidential candidate, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN, saying: “This morning, I received a call from Dr. @BAjibadeSAN and I have also read his congratulatory message both of which were quintessential Tunde, the gentleman who I have known for a long time who is my brother & friend and will always remain so. As I said in my thank you message, I will count on his support and counsel as we work towards Securing a United Bar that Works for All.”

On his part, Nigerian Law School teacher, Mr. Sylvester Udemezue said that while he had called Akpata to congratulate him on his victory, “I have also chosen this medium to, again, heartily congratulate the NBA President-elect, Mr. Akpata, on his victory. It was a keenly contested election, but someone had to win. The term ‘election’ itself suggests a contest between two or more persons at the end of which one person must win and another or others must lose, while all must thereafter continue as one. Dear sir, I urge you to be high-minded in victory; to reach out to the other contestants, indeed to all camps and also to endeavour to carry everyone along in your leadership of the NBA, during the next two years. This you should do in order to succeed, and make the NBA better, because your camp or supporters alone cannot make you succeed; they can only make you remain for only one side! I sincerely hope you be guided by the words of Michael Watson who once advised, ‘true winners and strong people don’t put others down, they lift them up.’ ”

In its congratulatory message signed by its Convener, Mr. Chuma Akana, Innovation and Technology Lawyers Network wrote: “We believe the NBA is properly positioned to navigate the intersection of law and technology, as we look forward to a technology driven NBA. We also look forward to a Nigerian Bar Association that will encourage interested members to build capacity and jurisprudence in emerging areas of tech law including Fintech, blockchain, data privacy, artificial intelligence etc.”

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

NBA ELECTION CRISIS: AUDIT TO THE RESCUE?

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

As the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 2020 Election inches to a close, the much anticipated inaugural audit of the election may be the elixir needed to calm frayed nerves and pull the poll away from the usual rancour that has bedeviled previous exercises.

Signs that the election may walk the troubled part of past polls emerged today when one of the presidential candidates, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN wrote to the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) demanding cancellation of the election.

In a petition to the electoral committee, Adesina alleged that the election is fraught with irregularities, saying that the voters’ list “contained grave errors of omission and commission.” He listed some of the errors to include:

  1. Names of purported lawyers without branches ascribed to them from Serial Number 25171 to 29635;
  2. Names of Lawyers under the subheading “International Diaspora” from Serial Number 12182 to 12268. A clear violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the NBA;
  3. Inflation of the List of some Branches. For instance, Obollo-Afor Branch on the Final List for Verification had only 39 names on the List from Serial Number 30424 to 30462. Strangely, this increased to 662 on the Verified List;
  4. Deletion of Names of Members removed from the Final List;
  5. Many Members names found their way to Branches other than their own Branch.

Adesina stated that though he took up the matter with NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN as well as with a member of the Electoral Committee, “Some explanations were made though unsatisfactory by which time voting had actually started.” He stated that the Electoral Committee “admitted this error” in their Statement No. 019 when they stated that “the situation is regretted but arose because members in the course of Verification did not fully update information on their current Branches and/or sex.” He however noted that “nothing was done to rectify the situation.”

The presidential candidate also alleged that the voters’ register was padded with over 180 voters, saying: “The Addition of Votes Recorded plus Notices yet undelivered amounted to 29,820 which is 185 votes over and above the total number of voters on the Voters Register.”

He also alleged that “the System used for this Election was said to have been registered the very day the Election was to start and MoU was signed on that same day. This was done all alone by the President of the NBA.” He added that “There was no opportunity to interrogate the System before the commencement of the Election in order to determine its vulnerability, security and capacity.”

Adesina has practically rejected the outcome of the election, calling it a “sham.” His words: “I call on you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association to cancel this sham Election. It is needless to say that if the process is bad, the product cannot be good.”

A similar statement by the Dele Adesina Support Group is fundamentally on all fours with Adesina’s petition. Its list of alleged infractions includes the following:

  1. Failure to release the final voters list within constitutionally prescribed period.
  2. Over 4000 names were without Branches as required by the NBA Constitution.
  3. 86 lawyers were described as belonging to International Diaspora contrary to the provision of the NBA Constitution.
  4. Padding of Voters’ list of some Branches, and reduction in the number of published voters’ list of others. An example is Obollo-Afor Branch which has over 661 names on the voters list when the actual voters list is less than 60.
  5. Several branches had names of hitherto eligible voters removed from the final list.
  6. Several members had their names listed in Branches other than theirs.
  7. Many members have reported that they received notification of confirmation of voting when they neither received voting links nor voted.

At least one candidate for the post of General Secretary also complained bitterly to CITY LAWYER on what is generally perceived as a highly jaundiced voters’ list.

There is no gainsaying that the verified voters’ list as released by the electoral committee was seemingly an anti-climax, as it failed to build on the more robust “final list” released by the ECNBA. Apparently, the “clean up” of the final voters’ list was largely unsuccessful. It also does not seem that the electoral committee’s explanation on the issue fully exonerates it from blame. For example, how does it explain the increase in the number of voters for Obollo Afor by about 600 among sundry gaps.

Also, it is yet to be determined the number of eager and eligible voters who were disenfranchised by non-receipt of voting links either via email or short messaging service. While some of the affected voters contacted CITY LAWYER on the subject, subsequent feedback was not quite satisfactory.

There is no gainsaying that the electoral committee got it right with its appointment of ELECTIONBUDDY, a world class voting management software for the election. The Help Desk was also generally functional.

However, it is instructive that the voters’ list is not only central to any election, but is especially critical for electronic voting given the garbage in-garbage out concept.

It is refreshing that the ECNBA has promised an audit of the election. Hopefully, a comprehensive audit will answer all the posers raised by the stakeholders and pull the association back from another tumultuous era.

 

ELECTORAL C’TE RELEASES VOTING GUIDELINES

The eagerly awaited guidelines for tomorrow’s elections have now been released by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA).

Setting out the voting protocols in its ECNBA STATEMENT NO 017, the electoral committee assured that voters would receive a certificate after voting.

Below is the text of the statement:

GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING

  1. Ballot shall open at 11:00 PM on Wednesday 29th July, 2020 and end at 11:00 PM on Thursday 30th July, 2020 (24 hours).
  2. Every voter shall receive an Email and/or SMS notification for the declaration of the opening of polls to all eligible voters on the day of the election
  3. Every voter is expected to click on the personalized voting link provided via the received Email and/or SMS notification;
  4. The voter would then enter his/her Supreme Court Number beginning with “SCN…” after which the voter would click on the “authenticate” button to proceed;
  5. The voter would proceed by viewing the list of available positions and candidates and selecting his/her choice of candidate or abstain from voting. A voter must make a choice at this stage;
  6. The voter would either verify his/her choice made by submitting the ballot or change his/her choice by editing the ballot before submission.
  7. Upon submission, the voter will receive a ballot submission verification code on the device screen as well as his/her registered email.
  8. The voter should keep the verification code safe for audit purposes.

Dated this 28th day of July 2020

Tawo E. Tawo, SAN

Chairman

EXCLUSIVE: CONCERNS MOUNT ON VOTING PLATFORM FOR NBA ELECTION

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

‘NO CAUSE FOR ALARM,’ SAYS ECNBA

There are strong indications that the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) is making frantic efforts to fortify the NBA Election Portal and deploy it for the election now shifted to commence tomorrow evening.

The electoral committee had in its latest statement moved the election from midnight today to 11 pm tomorrow, even as it gave no reason for the shift which is coming barely a few hours to the earlier commencement schedule.

But CITY LAWYER reliably gathered that the shift may not be unconnected with strong indications that the electoral committee is yet to conclude a clean-up of the voters’ list. The ECNBA Chairman, Mr. Tawo Tawo SAN had told a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday that the clean-up would be concluded by midnight, while a final list of verified voters was expected to be published today by the electoral committee. A source who is familiar with the process however told CITY LAWYER that the clean-up is still ongoing and may not be concluded until tomorrow. The committee had stated that over 30,000 eligible voters participated in the verification exercise.

CITY LAWYER also gathered that the electoral committee may have insisted on deploying the controversial NBA Election Platform delivered to it by the current administration for the election, even as it is making efforts to plug the gaps on the portal.

However, the ECNBA told CITY LAWYER today that there is no cause for worry, adding that the technology to be deployed for the election would be “seamless.” 

According to a source who is familiar with the process, “They (ECNBA) are still updating the NBA platform up until now. The database of the election collation is now being hosted on another IP. They will only make that one active on the day of the election.”

Continuing, the source said: “The only option they have is implement a third party election collation system like VOTE NOW api, then use it within the NBA portal environment. I believe they are integrating to use a third party collation system within the platform. That is using a system like VOTE NOW but within the NBA or another IP as they know this present one is closely monitored.”

But ECNBA Secretary Cordelia Eke told CITY LAWYER that some of the stakeholders “assumed we were going to use the NBA Election portal.” She however said that the electoral committee “wants the best” and would abide by the advice of its IT Consultants. 

According to the ECNBA scribe, “We have done test runs. The platform we will use tomorrow will be endorsed by our IT Consultants. It is to be noted that the number of eligible voters for the election is a critical factor in deciding on the voting portal. This is the highest number of eligible voters so far when compared with the two previous elections. But rest assured that the process will be seamless. We all have our integrity and we will want to complete this assignment with our integrity intact. We will deploy the best platform for the election.”

Continuing, she said the “silence” on the part of the committee was to ensure the security of the process, adding that some mischief makers were bound to attempt to truncate the process “whichever platform you use.”

She assured that voters will receive a certificate after voting aside from an audit of the entire election, adding that the committee is making extra efforts to clean up the voters’ list and ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised. Her words: “Be assured that the voters’ list would be published before the voting exercise.”

It is recalled that some candidates have raised concerns on the reliability of the voting portal, even as the electoral committee refused yesterday to confirm whether the election will be hosted on the NBA Election portal as speculated. The Dele Adesina SAN (DASAN) Group had queried the electoral process, saying: “We are yet to receive any information from the ECNBA regarding the Service Provider who would conduct and manage the electoral process in respect of accreditation, voting, computation of votes, and declaration of results.”

The group also queried compilation of the voters’ list, saying that “the Voters List for Abuja and Lagos Branches, as typical examples, are tainted by severe irregularities which are yet to be addressed, even though official petitions have been written to the ECNBA.”

A technical report by consultants hired by another presidential candidate, Mr. Olu Akpata was more damning on the integrity of the voting portal. In a petition to ECNBA, Akpata stated that “Even more distressing is the fact that the NBA portal on which the verification exercise is being conducted appears not to be secure and can be easily manipulated.”

The report by the ICT experts stated that “we carried out a vulnerability assessment of the web platform with IP 130.61.106.164 and came up with the following deductions: That the NBA Portal is built on Drupal 8, an Open Source Content Management Software. The platform is a template edited for the NBA; That the NBA portal has a vulnerability severity rating between 4 – 7 based on discovered vulnerability exposures.”

The report noted that Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), an attack that tricks the victim into loading a page that contains a malicious request, “was exploited few weeks ago on the NBA portal where many users made complaints of their password being changed without their taking such actions personally.”

The experts recommended the following remedial measures:
* A Unique Customized Secure Platform Built Specifically For The NBA: An organization with such repute and standard as the Nigerian Bar Association requires a unique software architecture and security framework used to build a customized web portal for all its services.
* Remediation of Security Vulnerabilities: This refers to the process by which vulnerabilities identified are resolved and further threats to the platform is prevented.
* Constant Vulnerability Assessment: There should be a set standard procedure for running assessment and penetration test constantly to keep the platform updated in line with global security standards and its defence capable of deterring any such cyber-attacks.

But in a searing reposte, the electoral committee lampooned Akpata for the petition, accusing him of gaining “unauthorized access” to the NBA portal. Said Tawo: “The committee therefore deprecates in strong terms the various attempts by individuals who in an attempt to force the hand of the ECNBA, some of who are members of the profession, to gain unauthorized access to the NBA website and going further to publish a report showing perceived weaknesses of the site to the world. This action is so sad to say, not expected of gentlemen of our noble profession.”

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

ELECTION: BRANCHES BACK OHAGBA AS NBA SCRIBE

The political fortunes of consummate Bar-man and former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Assistant General Secretary, Mr. Okey Ohagba has received a major boost with his endorsement by the eight branches in Rivers State.

Rising from a stakeholders meeting last Wednesday, the Bar Leaders unanimously declared support for the candidacy of Ohagba for the office of NBA General Secretary in the forthcoming NBA General Elections.

Among the Bar Leaders who attended the meeting are Branch Chairmen and Secretaries as well as past Chairmen and Secretaries of all the NBA branches in Rivers State

A statement by the Chairman of NBA Ahoada Branch, Mr. Agent Benjamin Ihua-Maduenyi on behalf of chairmen of NBA Branches in Rivers State, read: “The meeting called on all members from the eight (8) NBA branches in Rivers State to leverage on the extended verification deadline, get verified and vote en masse for Okey Leo Ohagba as the next General Secretary of NBA in the coming elections.”

Ohagba is reputed as “a passionate member of the Nigerian Bar Association and a very committed member of Port-Harcourt Branch.” He was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in November, 2007.

“With a burning passion for litigation, Okey turned down a juicy corporate employment offer from a reputable Nigerian bank and started his legal practice career in the firm of N. H. AJIE & CO. of Portharcourt in 2008 and in 2012 he established O. L. OHAGBA and Company, a commercial litigation and ADR consultancy firm, wherein he remains the principal partner till date.

“In his quest for a broadened knowledge of the law and expertise, Okey had prior to his legal practice career, obtained a certificate of proficiency in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) after an intensive professional course at the Settlement House Abuja. Thereafter he was awarded the title of Professional Negotiator and Mediator (pnm). He is also a certified member of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) as a Chartered Mediator and Conciliator (ChMC).

“Okey Ohagba, a pioneer alumnus of Madonna University, is a quintessential Bar man, a creative thinker, always eager to achieve excellence in every assignment.

“As National Secretary of NBA Young Lawyers’ Forum, Ohagba displayed exceptional competence, capacity and professionalism in the discharge of his duties while he steered the YLF Secretariat. He developed a comprehensive database of young lawyers at the time. He reinvigorated the YLF section of the NBA website and kept it up to speed throughout his tenure. He was the Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee that organized the ‘Portharcourt 2013′ NBA-YLF National Summit; which event was widely adjudged the best Summit in the YLF history due to his organisational prowess and elegance in service delivery. Same skills he exhibited when he organized perfect YLF Sessions at both Calabar and Owerri NBA AGCs 2013 and 2014 respectively. With the joint efforts of other Council Members, he midwifed the establishment of Young Lawyers’ Forums across over 70% of NBA branches nationwide.

“His culture of service excellence and intuitive passion for innovation became more prominent when he served as NBA Representative on the Board of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); during which period, with the support of the board, he practically championed the drive for the implementation of the present day CAC-ONLINE (A full automation of CAC incorporation processes). His passion for innovation, aided the digitization of the Commission’s system. He reawakened the Commission’s interest in the age partnership with NBA at Annual General Conferences starting with the Calabar, Owerri and Abuja Conferences, 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively.

“As Chairman of sports subcommittee for the NBA AGC Owerri 2014, Okey, in his usual innovative thinking, saw the need to introduce some pecuniary rewards to winners of the tournament in order to subsidise branch expenses and increase participatory interest in the tournaments. His proposal was approved by the then NBA President, and for the first time in NBA history, winners of the football tournament received N500, 000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) cash prize from the NBA. 2nd and 3rd place winners also got cash prizes accordingly.

“As NBA First Assistant Secretary, 2016 to 2018, Okey Ohagba once again demonstrated capacity and service excellence when, upon the direction of the General Secretary, he delivered ‘error proof’ minutes at nearly all NBA National Executive Committee Meetings and facilitated for the first time, electronic mailing of Minutes and NEC Bundles prior to NEC Meetings, thereby affording NEC Members ample opportunity to read, digest the minutes and participate more robustly at NEC Meetings.”

 

OGUNLANA SUES, ASKS COURT TO STOP NBA ELECTION IF…

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

• FATE OF ELECTION HANGS IN BALANCE

• COURT SET TO HEAR SUIT FRIDAY

The fate of the forthcoming Nigerian Bar Association National Officers Elections is now hanging in the balance as a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja will on Friday hear a lawsuit brought by controversial former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana against his disqualification from the presidential race.

In court documents seen by CITY LAWYER, Ogunlana is asking the court to set aside his disqualification by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) or restrain the defendants from conducting the NBA Elections without his inclusion in the race. The electoral body had disqualified the former branch chieftain on the ground that his nomination forms did not include a “Letter of Good Standing” from his branch chairman.

The Respondents are Incorporated Trustees of Nigeria Bar Association; Mr. Paul Usoro SAN (President of the Nigerian Bar Association); Mr. Jonathan Taidi (General Secretary, Nigeria Bar Association); and Professor (sic) Tawo Tawo SAN, Chairman, Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association. Others are ECNBA Secretary, Cordelia Eke, Esq. and Dele Oloke, Esq (immediate past chairman of Ikeja Branch of Nigerian Bar Association).

Marked as Suit No. ID/4015GCM/2020, Ogunlana is praying for “An interlocutory order of this honourable court directing and compelling the Defendants, to include the name of the Claimant/Applicant in the list of candidates to contest for the Office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association in the 2020 National Officers’ Elections and allowing same to contest pending the determination of the Motion on Notice in this matter.”

In the alternative, the disqualified NBA presidential aspirant is seeking “AN ORDER of injunction restraining the Defendants from conducting elections into the office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, without including the name of the Claimant as a candidate on the 29th and 30th July, 2020 or on any other date pending the determination of the Motion on Notice in the matter.”

Filed on July 9, 2020 Ogunlana revealed in a broadcast on his verified Facebook handle that the matter has been assigned to Justice Adedayo Oyebanji of Ikeja High Court, adding that the court has penciled down the case for hearing “due to its urgent nature.” He reassured his supporters to “keep hope alive,” adding that though the election has been scheduled for 29th and 30th July, 2020, “nothing is sacrosanct.”

Ogunlana listed four grounds to justify his lawsuit, stating that
(i) The 4th and 5th Defendants/respondents’ electoral body, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) claimed to have disqualified the claimant contesting the election because his Nomination Forms did not include a letter of Good Standing from the 6th defendant, the then Chairman of his branch, the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association as required by the constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association.

(ii) The claimant brought an Appeal based on the objection raised by the 4th and 5th Defendants as stated earlier above in paragraph 1 but his appeal was dismissed based on a completely different issue, and which is applicable to the appeal or case of the claimant.

(iii) The ground of dismissing the Appeal founded in section 8(3)(c) of the NBA Constitution 2015(as amended) vis-a-vis the issue raised and the absence of any evidence to show that the report of the insurance committee if Ikeja Branch of NBA has been set aside “is disjointed from the ground of Appeal itself, which is based on the Appeal against disqualification for absence of letter of Good Standing in the Nomination packet of the Claimant/Applicant.

(iv) The Claimant /Applicant will suffer irreparable loss if this honourable court declines the order sought.”

It is recalled that Ogunlana has had a cat-and-mouse relationship with the electoral body following his initial disqualification from the presidential race. Though he appealed the disqualification, claiming that Oloke lacked the power to withhold his “Letter of Good Standing,” the ECNBA dismissed his appeal as lacking in merit.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

EXCLUSIVE: CRISIS ROCKS NBA LEADERSHIP, AS VP BLASTS USORO

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

  • ACCUSES NBA PRESIDENT OF BREACHING CONSTITUTION

  • LABELS HIM ‘SOLE ADMINISTRATOR’

  • ‘NATIONAL OFFICERS NEGLECTED, TREATED UNFAIRLY’

  • SAYS APPOINTMENT OF NEC MEMBERS FLAWED

  • RAISES POSERS ON PREPARATIONS FOR NBA ELECTIONS

The crisis of confidence rocking the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) peaked at the weekend following an unprecedented and scorching indictment of NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN by the association’s Second Vice President, Dr. Foluke Dada.

In an email last Thursday by Dada to the NBA President obtained by CITY LAWYER, the fiery senior lawyer lampooned Usoro for his leadership style, saying that National Officers have been sidelined from discharging their constitutionally guaranteed roles.

Titled “My concern on the state of the 2020 Elections and the abandonment by the President of the NBA, Paul Usoro SAN of the National Officers in the scheme of NBA affairs,” CITY LAWYER gathered that the email was copied to all the National Officers.

Noting that all efforts to discuss the “burning issues” were rebuffed by the NBA President, Dada, who is also the Chair of Advocacy Committee of NBA Women Forum, stated that Usoro’s style “has been one of pure neglect or shall we say, total abandonment of the key officers of the NBA national Exco,” adding that “In fact, the word is that you, Mr. President, view your officers as ordinary appendages to your office with no usefulness as to the running of the organization against the core provisions of the Constitution of the NBA.”

Assessing Usoro’s leadership style, the NBA Second Vice President scored him poorly on teamwork, adding that National Officers were denied the opportunity to contribute to decision making in their constitutionally mandated roles. Her words: “It is in line with the trust imposed, that as an officer, who observes throughout an almost two -year tenure that the affairs of the National body has been SOLELY stage-managed by you as a “Sole Administrator”, so to speak, and in addition, all affairs have been personally handled to the EXCLUSION of the members of the exco by you to the detriment of all. This is in clear assault to the intentions of the drafters of the Constitution of our great body, the Nigerian Bar Association.”

Dada accused the NBA President of nepotism, noting that she rebuffed Usoro’s attempt to hijack her constitutionally guaranteed role. Her words: “It is on this note that the agenda of neglect/abandonment of officers started from the inception of our tenure when you sought to appoint your kinsman, Victor Etim ESQ. to perform the duties constitutionally granted to the office of the Second Vice President of the Bar! This move was resisted by me but you employed the silent code to avoid your officers to the best of your ability! There are lessons to be learned!!!”

She noted that key decisions were taken “without the input of any member of the executive,” adding that “appointment of members of over 100 Co-Opted NEC has been conducted by you to the detriment of the interests of the majority of your National Officers and the Bar, particularly, those you perceive as having voted for your opposition during the election at the Bar.

Turning to the 2020 NBA National Elections, Dada who declared herself a “woman of honor and integrity,” said that “members from across the Nation have been clamoring for the postponement of the 2020 National Elections for reasons varying from the lack of transparency, lack of a trust-worthy web platform secured to ensure the integrity of the elections, incomplete or unverifiable electoral list, verification difficulties etc.”

She raised many posers on the integrity of the electoral process, and urged Usoro to provide answers to them, saying: “My question to you sir, Are we providing the best possible electoral platform and resources to our members?”

With a tone of finality, Dada, who is also the the Iyalode of Ere Ijesha and Yeye Mofin of Itaji-Ekiti, stated that the National Officers had a raw deal under the Usoro Administration. She said: “Sir, I (and I believe all of us, as national officers) have been unfairly treated by you sir. Let this be on record!”

It is recalled that CITY LAWYER had in a report last May noted concerns by some National Officers that they were not carried along especially in relation to award of contract for the revamp of the NBA Website. The report stated that “At least three National officers who spoke to CITY LAWYER recently vowed that they were in the dark on the NBA website contract, adding that it was never discussed at any of their meetings. They also pleaded ignorance on the identity of the vendor or scope of work contained in the contract. The NBA did not respond to CITY LAWYER enquiries on the subject.”

  • DR. FOLUKE DADA, NBA Second Vice President

Below is the full text of the letter.

MY CONCERN ON THE STATE OF THE 2020 ELECTIONS AND THE ABANDONMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NBA, PAUL USORO SAN OF THE NATIONAL OFFICERS IN THE SCHEME OF NBA AFFAIRS

Dear Sir,

Greetings!

PREAMBLE:

Permit me to explore this avenue to make known my observations on some of the issues arising from my association with your honourable self and some of the burning issues within the NBA Community on the vital areas of concern that should be discussed.

May I remind you sir, Mr. President, that I have called by phone and sent many messages via WhatsApp and through a phone call 3 weeks ago to your wife, Mrs. Mfon Usoro who called out to you across the room but you responded that you were busy! Since then, I have not had the courtesy of a return call or response to any of my messages or attempt to reach you to discuss some of these vital issues! Hence, my adopting the current medium to hone in some of the points I would have preferred to discuss with you personally.

It is indeed worrisome to me that the trend and path adopted by your honourable self, being the elected President of the Nigerian Bar Association (2018-2020), (just as we all have been elected to serve one constitutional purpose or the other), has been one of pure neglect or shall we say, total abandonment of the key officers of the NBA national Exco. In fact, the word is that you, Mr. President, view your officers as ordinary appendages to your office with no usefulness as to the running of the organization against the core provisions of the Constitution of the NBA. Little did it surprise anyone that you sought to include into the recently amended Constitution of the NBA, the clause (which was honorably expunged by members at the AGM of 2019), that persons seeking an election into offices at the Bar should be men and women of “means!”

ISSUES AT THE CORE

My distinguished President, I humbly and honorably disagree with the above concept formally and do seek your indulgence to state categorically that I am a woman of honor and integrity and of course with means adequate enough to live a honourable lifestyle of a lady at the Bar! I am of the view, that same applies to my other colleagues at the EXCO! Let me state further that;

The Nigerian Bar Association is a body governed by her Constitution (2015 as amended 2019) and several rules of Professional Ethics and behavior that require that the men and indeed women at the Bar serve with utmost dignity and integrity of purpose within and outside the Bar. Hence, the perceived indictment on the person of any national officer who feels alienated from the performance of his or her duties so accorded by the trust and confidence imposed on their election into the various offices of the Bar! This is my belief throughout the tenure!

It is in line with the trust imposed, that as an officer, who observes throughout an almost two -year tenure that the affairs of the National body has been SOLELY stage-managed by you as a “Sole Administrator”, so to speak, and in addition, all affairs have been personally handled to the EXCLUSION of the members of the exco by you to the detriment of all. This is in clear assault to the intentions of the drafters of the Constitution of our great body, the Nigerian Bar Association.

Recall also, that you, as the President of the NBA, has refused totally to engage your officers in the vital decisions affecting the Bar to the detriment of the Constitutionally mandated roles of your executive officers. It is on this note that the agenda of neglect/abandonment of officers started from the inception of our tenure when you sought to appoint your kinsman, Victor Etim ESQ. to perform the duties constitutionally granted to the office of the Second Vice President of the Bar! This move was resisted by me but you employed the silent code to avoid your officers to the best of your ability! There are lessons to be learned!!!

Recall again sir, that prior to and throughout the COVID-19 saga AND TILL DATE, you have refused to call one National Officers Meeting, physically or virtually!

In fact, it is bemusing that throughout the COVID-19 period, I, as your officer, did not receive ONE phone call or message to check the welfare, not to talk of working or suggesting or contributing to any Bar related issue from you!

Recall as well, that even the appointment of members of over 100 Co-Opted NEC has been conducted by you to the detriment of the interests of the majority of your National Officers and the Bar, particularly, those you perceive as having voted for your opposition during the election at the Bar.

Mr. President, vital decisions have been taken without the input of any member of the executive, save yourself sir. We seem to be the administration that thrived on NEC ratifications after the fact. This is no surprise as the bulk of the co-opted membership of NEC was selected by you sir! Would I be right to assume that this was done for a purpose? Why were officers made redundant and despised?

THE ULTIMATE –  NBA 2020 ELECTION

As recently as yesterday, July 6th, 2020, members from across the Nation have been clamoring for the postponement of the 2020 National Elections for reasons varying from the lack of transparency, lack of a trust-worthy web platform secured to ensure the integrity of the elections, incomplete or unverifiable electoral list, verification difficulties etc. An embarrassing example of this is a situation where a name was listed as “Opening Balance” on an electoral list!!! The list goes on and on…

Mr. President, what answer do you have for a concerned electorate at the Bar who seeks to understand:

The veracity of the information contained in the NBA database?

The security measures in place to ensure that the election is not compromised

The identity and the integrity of the organization working on the private data of members

The process or remedial measures in place for possible infractions or even crashes during the election

The improvement in the capacity of the customized NBA web page which to the best of my knowledge or to the best of information available unto me, has failed on the couple of times it was tested even for a Zoom meeting!

My question to you sir, Are we providing the best possible electoral platform and resources to our members? The questions above were posed by members of our great association who are genuinely worried about the level of our preparedness. Please oblige me with answers. We owe them the responsibility.

Again Mr. President, do you really think it is fair on your officers to neglect them or even think possibly that everyone has come to supposedly exploit the Association? Alas, NO! Thirty One (31) YEARS at the Bar for me is nothing to jeopardize for a two-year tenure of service to my great Association!

History will judge all of us as we treat each other in this profession. Our great objective is the promotion and the protection of the Rule of Law. As we seek to do this, we also reflect on our attitudes and the impact of our actions on the people we meet along the way. For me, as an elected National Officer, the little I was able to sternly but respectfully discharge has been nothing but through the grace of GOD. Posterity will judge us all.

Sir, I (and I believe all of us, as national officers) have been unfairly treated by you sir. Let this be on record!

I have a future that GOD only can preserve.

I enjoin you sir, to please endeavor to imbue in the younger people coming after us the sense of dignity as we all owe them that duty! It is not enough to form a platform for them to operate. We should ensure they have as much independence and unity of purpose serving with dignity and integrity.

I continue to serve the Bar in the best of my ability for the remainder of our tenure in office and beyond.

We are all lawyers!

Thank you sir!

Dr. Foluke Dada
2VP NBA (2018-2020)

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

ELECTORAL C’TE SETTLES FOR NBA WEBSITE AS VOTING PORTAL

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) may have resolved to deploy the NBA website as the voting portal for the forthcoming National Officers Elections.

An indication to this effect was given today by the NBA Assistant Publicity Secretary, Mr. Akorede Habeeb Lawal while responding to concerns raised by lawyers on a CITY LAWYER whatsapp platform.

This may have laid to rest speculations on whether the newly built NBA Election Portal will be deployed by the Electoral Committee for the elections.

While one Osa Akpata had expressed worry over the challenges being encountered by lawyers in the verification exercise, Lawal said that the verification process was not commenced with the elections in mind. His words: “Although the ECNBA has chosen to conduct the election on the NBA membership portal, the verification exercise was not commenced primarily because of election. And we will not compromise its essence on the altar of politics. Verification takes some time and that time is used to ensure from the backend that the applicant for verification is indeed the owner of the bar certificate he/she uploads. It is far beyond the election – greater than politics.”

Debunking the charge that the verification process is “flawed,” the NBA publicist said: “No one who had been verified would state that the process was flawed. A lot of members got verified and paid their BPF during the lockdown in March. And there was no complaint about the process.

“We also have to acknowledge that not all of us are versatile with the use of technology and as such, while others have a seamless verification exercise, some have troubles with it. It is for this reason that we’ve set up a help desk in this respect. Members with issues may and indeed have been reaching out to me and other national officers. I can be reached through this WhatsApp line.

“While not holding the brief of the ECNBA, the Chairman of the Committee has stated number without times that no eligible voter will be disenfranchised. If you cannot trust them, then, at least you give them the benefit of doubt.”
On the controversy surrounding some strange names found on the final voters register, Lawal said: “We have no non-living things/duplicated names on the verified list. With respect, you are confusing the voters list with a verified list. In fact, there is no such thing as a verified list.”

Akpata had raised concerns on duplicated names on the voters’ register, adding that this may adversely impact the outcome of the election. She said: “The process is fraught with flaws; we have non-living objects on the verified list, we have names duplicated, we are days to the election and we have tons of lawyers who have not been verified due to the onerous and flawed online process.

“I’ve been trying to assist a colleague to verify for over a week with no success, how you can disenfranchise Lawyers who have paid their Practising fees and Branch Dues as required by the NBA out of no failure on their part simply because of the very flawed process. If we do not trust the process, how do we trust the outcome?”

Another lawyer, Favour Hart however agreed with Lawal, saying: “May I humbly align myself with your position. The process for verification on the NBA Portal might take a while but it doesn’t mean you’d not get any response from them. All those I’ve helped with verification have been successful! Agreed, the back and forth might be frustrating but that doesn’t meant (sic) it’s fraught with flaws. We need to leave politics aside when making some comments.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that ECNBA Chairman, Mr. Tawo Tawo SAN had in a statement noted that the NBA had developed an Election Portal, adding however that its deployment would depend on the advice of an information technology expert. His words: “There is no gainsaying that the success of the elections would depend to a large extent on the electronic or IT platform that would be deployed for the election. The need to procure such a platform has been a priority. The Committee was briefed that the NBA has its own e-voting platform/portal for elections developed by TAVIA, an IT firm. TAVIA was invited to brief the Committee in conjunction with the NBA IT Officer Umar Gezawa, on the said NBA election platform/portal.

“Further to the said briefing, the ECNBA decided that in spite of the advantages of such a portal, exploring the use of other viable e-voting platforms if necessary is not foreclosed. As such there was the need to engage an independent IT Consultant that would examine the NBA portal and critique same, its integrity, functionality and suitability or otherwise for the purpose of the elections as well as advise on other options. The Consultant would also be required to identify avenues for possible threats, and advise on how to contain same. Other issues to be addressed include the training of staff and all those associated with handling any part of the e-voting process by the consultant. They would be expected to verify electronically, the votes cast at the end of the exercise. Notwithstanding the above, the platform or portal to deploy for the election by the ECNBA would largely be dependent on the advice and report of the IT Consultant.”

Clarifying some controversy surrounding the NBA Election Portal, Tawo told a national newspaper that the portal was not designed to rig the forthcoming election. His said: “I did not say the e-voting platform/portal was developed specifically for the 2020 elections, and neither did I say anything that should warrant an inference that the NBA developed platform was created for the purpose of rigging the elections, far from it. It may be of interest to point out that, the IT firm, TAVIA, that developed the NBA election portal/platform, is not conducting the e-voting election for the NBA; rather another IT consultant will do that. I went further in that statement to state that, in spite of the obvious advantages of the NBA portal, namely reduction in cost and security of members data vis- a-vis deployment of another election platform or portal, there was the need to engage an independent IT Consultant to analyse, assess and critique the portal as to its integrity, functionality and suitability for the elections, or otherwise advice on other options.”

Arguing that there is wisdom in having a permanent NBA Election Portal, the Electoral Committee chairman said: “Having said that, what is wrong for an organisation that conducts a crucial election biannually to develop an election portal for use for its elections, rather than every two years an IT firm is commissioned or contracted to develop an election portal for the election, and discard same afterwards?”

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

NBA VP: DOTUN ADETUNJI UNVEILS ROADMAP, VOWS TO REVIVE GANI FAWEHINMI AWARD

A leading candidate for the post of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) First Vice President, Mr. Adedotun Adetunji has unveiled his plan for an “effective, dynamic, innovative and relevant” discharge of the duties of the office if elected in the forthcoming NBA Elections.

In a Manifesto published by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) and titled “Manifesto/Action plan for superlative selfless service to the Bar of Adedotun Habeeb Adetunji, Esq for the office of First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), 2020 – 2022,” Adetunji vowed to make efforts to resuscitate the Gani Fawehinmi Award for Human Rights and Social Justice “thereby restoring the primacy of the NBA in Human Rights and Social Justice Advocacy in Nigeria.”

According to him, “The Office of FIRST VICE PRESIDENT of the NBA can be as effective, dynamic, innovative and relevant as its occupant. My Manifesto/Programme of Action is anchored on the dual provisions of: Section 3(1) – (14) particularly (1) – (8), (10) – (14) thereof and Section 5 (b)(i) – (iv) of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), 2019 (as amended).”

The former NBA Ikorodu Branch Chairman and longstanding NBA-NEC Member stated that “While Section 3 (1) – (14) of the NBA Constitution (supra) articulates the aims and objectives of our great and noble Association, Section 5 (b) (i) – (iv) lucidly and meticulously outlines the four Constitutional duties of the First Vice President of the NBA.”

Listing the roles, he said: “These are: The First Vice President:
I. Shall in the absence of the president preside at all meetings in which the president is empowered to preside by the provisions of this Constitution;
II. Shall be responsible for the coordination of the activities of the group of Branches as may be assigned to him/her by the National Executive Committee or the President and shall pay periodic visits as necessary and/are required to the Branches so assigned to him/her and shall make periodic reports to the National Executive Committee on such visits;
III. Shall encourage and supervise the formation of new Branches within his/her zonal supervisory jurisdiction in line with the guidelines set out in this Constitution.
IV. Shall perform all other duties as he/she may be directed by the President or the National Executive Committee or the Annual General Meeting or which the president is unable to perform owing to ill-health, old age, absence from the country or any other reason.”

Vowing that he would diligently discharge the duties, Adetunji said: “I pledge and assure my faithful commitments to the foregoing Constitutional imperatives.”

In an indication that he has given some thought to his quest for the position of First Vice President, Adetunji also outlined other initiatives that he would pursue if elected. His words: “In addition, I look forward to convincing and moving the President, other National Officers and NEC to approve and execute the following nine (9) progressive and beneficial programmes for all Nigerian Legal Practitioners, namely:
1. Supporting or/and Standing in for the President and supporting other National Officers of the Association in the performance of their duties.
2. Effective Monitoring, Supervision and Coordination of all the Branches of the NBA to be assigned to me.
3. Promoting Healthy Competition and Partnerships among such Branches through different initiatives as may be approved by the President, other National Officers and NEC.
4. Establishment of Co-operative Societies as well as Lawyers Housing Estates in all interested branches, especially any group of Branches assigned to me.
5. Resuscitating the Gani Fawehinmi Award for Human Rights and Social Justice thereby restoring the primacy of the NBA in Human Rights and Social Justice Advocacy in Nigeria.
6. Establishing a Memorable UN International Human Rights Day observance by the NBA annually on December 10.
7. Effective Partnership and Support for all the Vice Chairmen of all the Branches to ensure effective and efficient promotion, protection and enforcement of Pro Bono Services/Schemes, Human Rights, Labour Rights, Consumer Rights and Social Justice Advocacy in Nigeria, including an all-inclusive amendment of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules by the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
8. Collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission, Civil Society Groups and other NGOs (including International Development Partners) in the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights and social justice in our polity, and
9. Effective and Efficient Discharge of other Statutory and Allied Duties of the office of the 1st Vice President of the NBA.”

A consummate Bar-man and legal practitioner of about 25 years standing, Adetunji has been an NBA National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) member from 2014 to date, a member of the Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy to the Governor of Lagos State, and the Principal Counsel of Dotun Adetunji & Co.

With an active practice spanning Banking, Oil and Gas, Telecommunications, Maritime, Real Estate and Aviation Industries, the firm’s practice areas include Environmental and Human Rights Law, Immigration, and Real Estate & Property Consultancy. Adetunji has substantial experience in litigation (having especially litigated criminal and civil matters up to Supreme Court), negotiation and claims settlement, debt recovery, Capital Market transactions, Joint Ventures and technical service agreements. His specialist areas are in local and international money market operations, banking and insurance arrangements, and property conveyancing.

Having attended all NBA Conferences from 1997 till date as well as the International Bar Association (IBA) Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 2013, Adetunji’s professional affiliations include membership of the Institute of Directors (IoD), International Bar Association (IBA) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration, and was a member of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law Steering Committee (SPIDEL) 2017 under the Chairmanship of Prof. Chidi Odinkalu (2017).

Adetunji has a track record of enduring service to the NBA. He was a Member of team appointed by the NBA to hold watching brief in the suit of FGN v. HON. JUSTICE RITA OFILI-AJUMOGOBIA & ORS (2017). He has held several positions in NBA Ikorodu Branch including Chairman, Membership and Allied Matters Committee (2016-2017); Chairman, Law Week Committee (2016-2017); Chairman, NBA Ikorodu, Branch (2014-2016), and Member, Extended EXCO (2012-2014). He has been Chairman, Bye Law Review Committee (2012-2013); Chairman, Legal Practitioners Remuneration Committee (2010-2012); Alternate Chairman, Disciplinary Committee (2010-2012); Chairman, Human Rights and Pro Bono Committee,(2010-2012), and Vice Chairman, NBA Ikorodu Branch (2010-2012).

Deeply involved in national and community service, Adetunji was a Member of the Lagos State Government Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (2016- 2019); Member, Governing Council of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (2014-2017); Legal Adviser, Community Policing Forum (CPF) for Ikorodu Division, Lagos State (2020); long-standing Ex Officio Member, Community Development Council (C.D.C.) Igbogbo/Bayeku L.C.D.A., Ikorodu, Lagos State (2014 till date) and Chairman, Agbele/Oreyo Community Development Association, Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA, Ikorodu, Lagos State (2007 till date).

Meanwhile, Adetunji’s political fortunes have brightened with his endorsement by vibrant Bar activist and young lawyer, Clementina E. Ukiri. Throwing her weight behind Adetunji’s bid, Ukiri said:

The NBA President needs a 1st Vice who is loyal and can fit into the shoes of a President when the need be.

One who understands fraternity and how to carry everyone along.

One who knows the way of our courts in enforcing human rights, lawyers rights and upholding the NBA constitution.

One who have access to the right people to ensuring a smooth administration by corporate engagements and negotiations.

One who is easy going as an assistant.

One with a listening ears ready to assist others at all times.

One who understands the protocols and internal workings of the NBA as a body.

Gentlemen, that person is Adedotun Habeeb Adetunji, Esq. former Chairman, NBA Ikorodu Branch.

I endorse and stand by him.”

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

ECNBA PUBLISHES CANDIDATES’ MANIFESTOS ON NBA WEBSITE

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) has published the manifestos of candidates for the forthcoming NBA Elections on the association’s website, exactly 21 days prescribed by the NBA Constitution (as amended). The manifestos are hosted here.

Paragraph 2.3(h) of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution provides that “The Electoral Committee shall collate all materials, arrange them in alphabetical order without regard for the position being sought and publish them in an electronic Election Magazine to be hosted on the NBA website at least twenty-one (21) days before the election.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that the electoral committee had in its ECNBA STATEMENT NO. 013 directed the candidates “to submit an A4 size copy of his/her curriculum vitae (of not more than 4 pages), a comprehensive manifesto and other campaign materials (all in electronic form) on or before 6:00PM on Monday 6th July 2020, for upload on the NBA website.” It added: “For the avoidance of doubt, campaigns can only be carried out by publication of campaign materials supplied to the ECNBA to be hoisted on the NBA website. Travelling across the country to solicit for votes is prohibited.”

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

‘POSTPONE NBA ELECTIONS NOW,’ BAR LEADERS, SBL, EX-YLF CHAIR TELL ECNBA

  • SAY NBA ICT TEAM IS MANIPULATING VERIFICATION PROCESS

  • ASK ELECTORAL C’TE TO WAIVE VERIFICATION, BRANCH DUES

  • WORRY ABOUT NON-DISCLOSURE OF VOTING FRAMEWORK

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

A major twist has emerged in the run-up to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections as some Bar leaders and the NBA Section on Business Law have asked the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) to postpone the elections in order to secure its credibility.

In a letter to the ECNBA Chairman, Mr. Tawo Tawo SAN dated 6th July, 2020 and obtained by CITY LAWYER, the Bar Leaders listed several challenges besetting preparations for the elections, warning that unless these issues are tackled, the NBA may witness another controversial election as was the case in 2016 and 2018.
Titled “Urgent concerns regarding the upcoming 2020 NBA Elections,” the letter was personally signed by frontline Bar Leader, Mr. Ade Okeaya-Inneh, SAN; Mr. Ayuli Jemide, Vice-Chairman, NBA Section on Business Law; Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Co-Convener, Open Bar Initiative, and Ms. Barbara Omosun, Chairman, NBA Young Lawyers Forum (2014-2016).

Noting that the ECNBA has “a sacred duty which may have been marred by faulty starts,” the Bar leaders said: “We think with all sense of responsibility and to the extent that the NBA constitution allows, the ECNBA may consider requesting the NBA for a short postponement of elections to enable it to discharge its duties creditably.”

They urged the electoral committee to “take these issues raised very seriously to avoid a dent on the image of the ECNBA, the NBA, and all Nigerian lawyers,” adding: “We are rested in the fact that you understand that if the NBA which is a known bastion of governance fails to conduct credible elections, it will be a travesty of untold proportions unfolding under your watch.”

ECNBA_LETTER

The petitioners hinged their quest for a postponement on several factors, listing the issues under headings such as ‘Missing Names on Voters List,’ ‘Voters List Verification,’ ‘Voter Eligibility,’ ‘Verification and Transparent Process for Voting.’

Noting that “It is with all sense of responsibility as lawyers and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that we have decided to formally record our concerns about the upcoming NBA elections,” the Bar Leaders chronicled the background to their request for a postponement, adding that “The NBA elections in 2018 was fraught with electoral glitches that raised questions for many members of the profession and interested Nigerians as to its credibility, rightly or wrongly.”

Stating that the ECNBA “must consider it a sacred duty to ensure that the 2020 elections redeem the dent on the NBA’s image arising from the questions raised about the conduct of the 2018 elections,” the Bar Leaders said that the call is for the ECNBA to “ensure that the playing field is level and the NBA can on the back of the 2020 elections regain its pride of place as a credible voice for governance and rule of law in Nigeria.”

They warned that disenfranchisement of any voter “due to technical glitches or administrative errors on the part of ECNBA cannot be excused. A technical disenfranchisement is still a disenfranchisement,” noting that “Thousands of members have complained that despite having paid their Bar Practising Fees and Branch Dues and armed with receipts, their names are still not on the voters list.”

According to them, the ECNBA “must create a fast track process that addresses these voters as a matter of urgency,” adding that “If these names are on the list of paid members provided by any of the banks, they should be allowed to vote. Some other lawyers have complained that their names had appeared on the list and disappeared at a later date. If these persons have their receipts of payment of Bar Practising Fees, they should not be disenfranchised.”

Turning to the thorny issue of verification, the Bar Leaders observed that “a list of credible voters needs to be obtained with greater simplicity and that every candidate should exercise their rights to review the voters list and its source well ahead of elections. The most credible way to achieve this in our view is to simply procure a bank certified print out of the names of NBA members who have paid their Bar Practising Fees which the candidates may then verify and compare with voters list already circulated by ECNBA.”

In a damning indictment of the verification process, the Bar Leaders said: “The unfortunate news going around on social media about names like ‘Opening Balance’’ being on the Voters List can only be refuted by a transparent process verified by all the candidates as we now suggest.”

On voter eligibility, the petitioners said: “To avoid disenfranchising many eligible voters and to create further simplicity, we suggest to ECNBA that for the 2020 elections the ECBNA should waive the pre-condition that voters must have paid their NBA branch dues. Our reasons are that that it is public knowledge that COVID19 occasioned lifestyle changes in the month of March in many cities (Lagos was most affected) that deterred many NBA members from paying their branch dues before 31st March 2020. Your Committee may wish to note that the first confirmed case of COVID19 in Nigeria was reported on 27th February 2020, and Punch Newspapers of 9th March 2020 reported that Nigeria had its second case of COVID19 and by 24th of March Nigeria had 44 cases, and the lockdown in Lagos and FCT commenced March 29 – which means the 30th and 31st being working days fell into the lock down period. As the ECNBA would know, the payment of branch dues for most branches entails members commuting to branch offices to present tellers to officers and it is characteristic with members to pay within the month of March particularly the last 2 days of the 30th and 31st of March.”

The Bar Leaders noted that the process for online accreditation “is semi manual, cumbersome, and akin to a technical disenfranchisement of thousands of voters. For example, we do not see why a member who has a Supreme Court Number (SCN) should also be required to upload a Call to Bar Certificate.”

Worried that the verification process is allegedly being programmed to rig the polls, the Bar Leaders said: “More so, it takes an average of three days for one to get the email of temporary log-in password instead of an automated process. This has raised suspicions, and rightly so, that persons behind the scenes use these three days to vet and calculatedly refuse certain voters from certain branches accreditation for the benefit of certain candidates.”

They urged the electoral committee to take a “brave decision in the interest of inclusiveness to drop the verification part of the eligibility process. In our view, anybody who has paid his or her Bar Practising Fees is an eligible voter and should not be put through rigours that are reminiscent of the nightmares millions of Nigerians went through to obtain PVC’s during the 2019 general elections. Technology is so advanced that simple algorithms can void a person whose name is not on the bank certified list who happens to gain unlawful access to the voting platform.”

Speaking on what they termed “Transparent Process for Voting,” the Bar Leaders described as “fearsome” the fact that barely three weeks to the elections “the voters and candidates do not know how the election technology works,” saying: “The ECNBA should know that any credible elections include a public briefing of candidates and the electorate on the process for voting. Questions that are being asked by members include: Is there an automatic process for collation of votes? Is that process transparent? What are the transparency features in the server? Which systems are in place to ensure that this server cannot be hacked? Any election that is not transparent is subject to manipulations and consequently subject to slanders which cannot be rebutted. This is the reason why votes are counted in public at polling booths during the Nigerian general elections. All voters are involved in the counting and go home knowing the results.”

The NBA Elections are scheduled to hold on July 29 and 30, 2020 via electronic voting.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

‘NBA IS CONTROLLING YOU TO RIG ELECTION,’ ONU WARNS ECNBA

  • SAYS VERIFICATION MODEL WILL FOSTER FAKE VOTERS

  • ‘SAFEGUARD YOUR GOOD NAME,’ ONU TELLS TAWO TAWO

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

The Co-Convener of Open Bar Initiative, Mr. Silas Onu has petitioned the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the exclusion of his name and that of his colleague from the voters’ register for the forthcoming NBA Elections, CITY LAWYER can authoritatively report.

In a letter dated 6th July, 2020 and titled “Conplaint (sic) against a foreseeable calculated attempt to disenfranchise me and other junior lawyers in the forthcoming national election of the Nigerian Bar Association,” Onu noted that while he has always discharged his financial responsibility to the NBA and is entitled to all benefits deriving from his membership of the association, “I have to make the point here that there is no benefit whatsoever that I have ever enjoyed as a faithful member of this Bar.”

Noting that “the only privilege that I have received by virtue of my membership is the right to vote and be voted for as enshrined in our constitution,” Onu stated that “this right itself has been stolen from me in the past and another concerted effort is underway to steal it from me again.”

Onu alleged that he was disenfranchised in 2018 by the Prof. Auwalu Yadudu-led electoral committee “in the total control of A. B. Mahmoud SAN,” adding that this was “due to my support for a candidate other than their endorsed candidate, even with evidence of all qualifying payments.”

Alleging that the current NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN “is the main beneficiary of that illegality,” Onu stated that “I fear that he (Usoro) is also controlling your committee to deliver the same outcome as the one that brought him in.”

Warning that he “will have a reason to seek redress and demand damages” if the right to vote is “taken away from me for the second time in a row,” the Abuja based lawyer also said that such “will determine my further need to pay anything to the Bar as the conduct of those running its affairs is gradually becoming a brazen acts (sic) of fraud with no fear for any consequence.”

Onu, who showered encomiums on the ECNBA Chairman, however warned him to steer clear of acts that may impugn his integrity, saying: “Mr. Chairman Sir, I have known you for many years. You have remained one of the few Senior Advocates who I deeply appreciate and respect because of how you have carried yourself with dignity of your station in life and respect for those who are behind you. You have earned yourself a good name by hard work and persevering in integrity. The task that you are currently chairing is one that can broaden your horizon in the path that you have been or completely deplete the good name that you have done for many years. The latter is easily achievable if you do not insist on managing the entire process that will lead up to the election. If you allow the certain regular partisan individuals occupying offices in the Secretariat to manage the process, then we will end up with a disputed election that can bring the NBA to its knee.”

Onu noted that there is a need to ensure that the electoral process “is more credible than the past and as transparent as the voting itself,” adding that the compilation of the voters register was a “shameful exercise” as it reflected a list “a list put together from names sent from various Branches of the Association.”

He alleged that the register is “replete with duplicate names or bogus names,” querying : “Can you sincerely say that a credible election is about to be conducted when thousands of qualified voters are unable to verify for the election?” He stated that many names on the voters register were without email addresses, adding that those assigned to administer the Help Desk “have become professional liars promising so much and delivering nothing to members with verification challenges.”

Providing their personal details, Onu said: “With the information given herein, there is no reason why we should not be able to do our verification before the last day scheduled for it, except if the bid to deny us this right is actually deeper than we thought.”

Onu warned that “lawyers verification should not have anything to do with this election,” and observed that opening the NBA portal for verification by all comers may be a recipe for a flawed election. His words: “This needs to be addressed urgently as allowing it as it is will open a window to all verified lawyers to gain access into the election portal even without having paid BPF for the year.”

The NBA Election is scheduled to hold on July 29 and 30, 2020.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

 

NBA PRESIDENCY: OLUJINMI, CLARKE, PINHEIRO BACK ADESINA TO WIN

A leading presidential candidate in the forthcoming Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Elections, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN has received double endorsements by key senior lawyers, including a former Attorney General & Minister of Justice.

Throwing his weight behind Adesina, former Nigeria’s chief law officer, Chief Akin Olujinmi SAN described him as “a dynamic, well-informed, focused, respectable and above all, courageous hardworking individual.”

On his part, Chief Robert Clarke SAN observed that the “leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association is very key to the fundamental issues of independence of the Judiciary, the advancement of the Legal Profession itself, and the sustenance of Constitutional Democracy In Nigeria.”

Delivering his verdict on the candidates, Clarke declared that the former NBA General Secretary “towers above the other candidates and that is why I recommend him as “

Popular litigator, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro SAN described Adesina as a “passionate human being with demonstrable commitment to whatever he believes in,” adding that he has a “strong and assertive personality.”

Below are the full texts of the statements:

I rise to join my other colleagues who have endorsed Dele Adesina SAN for election as President of the NBA. At this time of vanishing respect for the rule of law by those who govern us, challenges confronting the administration of justice, the need to make the juniors upward mobile in our noble profession and a host of other matters, it is indisputable that we need in the saddle, a dynamic, well – informed, focused, respectable and above all, courageous hardworking individual.

The individual is Dele Adesina SAN, a strong and committed member of the NBA, who has served our association meritoriously in various capacities and evidently parades rich experiential credential for service at a higher level. I can confirm from my interaction with Dele that he is pulsating with a lot of fresh ideas, fresh thinking and fresh vision that will take our dear NBA to a higher level. Vote Dele Adesina for President.

Chief Akin Olujinmi, CON, SAN

“Another round of Election of the Nigerian Bar Association is less than a month ahead and interested candidates are already jostling for the Office of the President of the Association.

“These include Mr. Dele Adesina SAN, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN and Olumide Akpata ESQ. The leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association is very key to the fundamental issues of independence of the Judiciary, the advancement of the Legal Profession itself, and the sustenance of Constitutional Democracy In Nigeria.

“Recently, the general administration of justice in Nigeria has also faced contending issues of serious dimensions capable of eroding the trust and confidence of the people in our justice system.

“This Election should produce the best that is available among these candidates in terms of experience, firm understanding of the issues of our judicial system, including leadership courage to speak truth to power. Rhetoric and promises should be of no value, but knowledge, antecedents, and experience of what the candidates have done in the past in the above areas must constitute the principal considerations.

“It is my opinion that Mr. DELE ADESINA SAN, whom I have seen at close quarters, listened to at several fora and more importantly, a past General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association in an administration adjudged to be dynamic and progressive in the defence of Rule of Law, towers above the other candidates and that is why I recommend him.”

Chief Robert Clarke SAN

I knew Dele Adesina SAN a long time ago. How did we meet each-other? We appeared against each-other in a matter at the Federal High Court. About four Senior Advocates were involved in that matter.

Heated and prolonged arguments had taken place at two different court sessions. At the end of each session, Mr. Adesina and I will appreciate each other for the candour and passion demonstrated in the course of advancing our respective client’s interest in court. One thing led to the other, we became close friends and of course we started paying attention to each-other’s advancement in the Profession.

I found in him a strong and assertive personality. A passionate human being with demonstrable commitment to whatever he believes in. Mr Adesina is a Bar man per excellence, a gentleman to the core. As Chairman, he raised the bar of NBA Ikeja Branch to an unprecedented level.

As General Secretary of the Bar, during the Presidency of Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN OFR, the Executive left a foot-print and verifiable legacy for the Bar. As the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Rule of Law Action Committee during Okey Wali’s Presidency, he brought tremendous focus and attention into the issues of Rule of Law in the nation.

It is for these reasons and many more that I am supporting him for the Office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association. He is a performer who will effectively bring his great experience in leadership to bear not only on the affairs of the Association but also on the Profession.

I have no doubt that he will promote the interest and welfare of young Lawyers. His capacity and courage to defend the Rule of Law and independence of the judiciary is well-known. The Nigerian Bar Association needs him at this period.

Kemi Pinheiro SAN

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

DAUDU BACKS OKEY OHAGBA TO WIN NBA GEN SEC RACE

The political fortunes of Port Harcourt-based Bar-man and candidate for the post of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Secretary, Mr. Okey Ohagba brightened at the weekend following his endorsement by Mr. Paul Babatunde Daudu, scion of former NBA President, Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN. The erstwhile NBA helmsman is recognised as a major power broker in NBA politics. Continue Reading

‘HOW ECNBA CAN AVOID RIGGING OF 2020 ELECTIONS,’ BY ODINKALU

Human rights advocate and former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has predicted that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections scheduled to open on July 29 will be rigged. In an article titled “The 2020 Elections of the Nigerian Bar Association Will Be Rigged: Here is How,” Odinkalu outlines perceived gaps in the ongoing electoral process, expressing fears that the NBA leadership may lack the political will to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

THE 2020 ELECTIONS OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION WILL BE RIGGED: HERE IS HOW

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

In his infamous letter issued last month to the 1998 transitional President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NA), Chief T.J.O. Okpoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), senior Nigerian lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, himself also a SAN, appealed that “it will be a great failure of leadership for the senior advocate to surrender leadership to outer Bar when there are willing and able senior advocates.” In an election in which two of the three aspirants for the top prize of president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) are SANs, this was as close as anyone could come to openly advocating rigging the election à la carte, without calling the crime by its name. Barring last minute course correction by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA), Chief Awomolo is likely to get his wish: these 2020 NBA elections, like the two before it in 2016 and 2018, have been set up to be rigged to order.

While Chief Awomolo may have provided the motive or rationale for rigging the NBA election, the mechanics of procuring the rigging are in the hands of the ECNBA. By way of context, it is useful to explain that the NBA elections are digital. In their 2018 book, How to Rig an Election, Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas point out that “once upon a time, to do the dirty of changing votes, you had to be present in the actual polling location. That is no longer true.” In an earlier piece of work on “Making Democracy Harder to Hack” published in the Michigan Journal of Law Reform in 2017, Scott Shackleford and his collaborators examined essential vulnerabilities that make rigging possible in digital democracy, focusing in particular on three aspects: who can vote (voter rolls); who you vote for (voting platforms) and vote computation. (how many votes each candidate receives). As will be shown shortly, all three vulnerabilities are deliberately built into the NBA’s electoral processes.

Essentially, there are four vulnerabilities that have been designed to guarantee rigging of the vote in the 2020 NBA election. These are voter rolls (register), portal integrity (or lack of it), voter verification opacity and prohibitive transaction cost, and lack of independence in the ECNBA. I will explain each of these briefly.

Voter Register: Voters in NBA ballot have to meet three conditions. First, they must be enrolled as lawyers in Nigeria. This is easily confirmed from the Roll of lawyers kept with the Supreme Court. Every lawyer on the Roll has an enrolment number, with which their enrolment can be verified. Second, the person must have paid their annual practicing fees by 31 March. The collecting bank for this is Access Bank. It should be easy to verify those who paid from the records or tellers of the bank. In reality, the only people who have access to this record are the President of the NBA and those whom he wishes to. Third, the voter must also have paid his or her branch dues by 31 March. The NBA comprises 125 branches. Each branch manages its own processes for collecting dues. These are not standardized. The list of eligible payees is at the say so of the different branch chairmen.

Without access to the records of the bank or of the branches, the register of voters lacks integrity and it shows. When the ECNBA issued the provisional register at the end of May 2020, it contained 21,067 names. By the time it issued what it called a final list one month later in June, it had ballooned by 186.65% to 39,321. A close reading of the list shows it contains multiple repetitions, omissions and even figments. People who did not pay the practicing fees are there while many who paid are not. Many branch chairmen have no records of people whom they have put forward as having paid branch dues. There are credibly attested reports of chairmen printing receipts of payment and backdating fictional payments. One particular voter on the list goes by the incredible name of “Opening Balance”. The joke is that this voter has a twin, who is also a lawyer called “Closing”. Their Dad, Mr. Balance, must be proud!

Portal Integrity: In 2018, the voting portal for the NBA election was from a compromised provider. In 2020 it is not clear who the provider is. The portal appears to be managed by the NBA itself. It is not clear who has built it. There is neither transparency to its provenance nor verifiability or falsifiability to its operations and computations. As such, its integrity can neither be investigated nor guaranteed. It should be easy to engage external monitors for this purpose or engage the leading campaigns to designate back-end agents to monitor and verify the integrity of the operations. Neither the leadership of the NBA nor the ECNBA constituted by it is willing to grant either.

Verification Opacity and Prohibitive Transaction Cost: By meeting the three conditions for getting on the voter register, a potential voter does not earn the right to vote as such. S/he only qualifies for the privilege of verification. To do this, the voter is required to go to the portal and key in their details, including uploading their qualifying certificate and providing an e-mail address to which a password can be sent to them. The uploading can take up to three to four days. Many voters find this frustrating and opt out. Passwords are generated by the portal and changed by it at will without the agency of the voter. The voting register does not contain the e-mail address of the voter, so it is impossible to verify in any forensic process whether an e-mail corresponds to any particular voter. On their part, the ECNBA and the NBA can put forward data-protection concerns for circumspection with publishing of the e-mail addresses. In response, surely, that cannot be cited to justify creating deliberate balloting vulnerability. This opacity guarantees inflation of actual voting. In 2018, this was precisely the vulnerability that allowed for clusters of voting to happen using fake Firemail addresses generated from one source. That is almost guaranteed to occur in 2020. The prohibitive transaction cost is engineered for targeted disenfranchisement of voting clusters or conurbations seen as favourably disposed to unfavoured candidates.

Lack of Independence in ECNBA: Appointed to supervise the NBA election, the ECNBA lacks independent appropriations and operations. It has to function through the NBA Secretariat under the direction of the NBA President. Despite the existence of an ECNBA, aspirants and candidates continue(d) to receive letters from the NBA Secretariat and the NBA continues to be involved in directing essential aspects of the election value chain. The absence of institutional and process independence could itself become a dent on the personal integrity of members of the ECNBA.

It happened in 2016 and 2018. The litigation commenced in 2016 against the outcome of the rigged election to the position of the NBA presidency was only concluded at the end of the tenure of the beneficiary in 2018. After the 2018 election, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the State Security Service (SSS) instituted investigations into the rigging of the ballot for the NBA presidency. Several staff of the NBA Secretariat were arrested. In one case, a young mother who works as staff of the NBA was arrested and detained for nearly two weeks.

The ECNBA has an opportunity even now 2020 to avoid these. It can easily infuse greater transparency into its operations. It can invite independent monitors to certify the integrity of its operations. All the accredited campaigns should be entitled to records that should enable them to certify the integrity of the process. These are not expensive steps. The only reason none will happen is because the NBA elections will be rigged. I will be happy to be proved wrong and to eat humble pie.

This, then, is the architecture of rigging that almost assuredly guarantees that Chief Awomolo and his gang of insecure, entitled antediluvians will get his wish. As I have said elsewhere, any system in which a minority feels entitled to rule over the majority has only one name: Apartheid. It should be resisted.

Odinkalu is Co-Convenor of the Open Bar Initiative and writes in his personal capacity.

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NBA PRESIDENCY: AJIBADE COUNTERS AWOMOLO ON SANship

  • SAYS FOCUS SHOULD BE ON CHARACTER AND CAPACITY

One of the leading aspirants for the presidency of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN has disagreed sharply with the position of Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN on his call for position to be retained within the rank of senior advocates.

Awomolo had in a letter to former NBA President, Chief Onomigbo Okpoko SAN called for a meeting of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) to deliberate on the matter.

But in a trending post on social media, Ajibade, a senior advocate, disagreed, saying that “The focus should be on the character, capacity and antecedents of persons who aspire to lead our profession and not on their title or rank.”

The full text reads:

THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IS NOT THE EXCLUSIVE PRESERVE OF SENIOR ADVOCATES OF NIGERIA – DR. BABATUNDE AJIBADE, SAN

My attention has been drawn to a statement made by Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN in which he suggests that the office of President of the Nigerian Bar Association is the exclusive preserve of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).

I respectfully disagree with this position. There is nothing contained in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Constitution or in the history of the NBA to support this assertion.

There is near unanimous agreement that one of the most popular and effective Presidents the NBA has had is Late Alao Aka-Basorun and the NBA has had other non-SAN Presidents since.

The focus should be on the character, capacity and antecedents of persons who aspire to lead our profession and not on their title or rank.

There are serious challenges facing the profession at this time and we need to unite the profession in order to effectively address them.

Dr Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb.

NBA PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS WOO IGBO LAWYERS

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential aspirants stormed the meeting of Igbo lawyers yesterday to felicitate with the members and express their intention to vie for the presidency of the Bar. Also present at the meeting were some aspirants for the post of General Secretary.

Among the presidential aspirants who attended the virtual monthly meeting of Otu Oka Iwu (Law Society) are Mr. Dele Adesina SAN, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN and Mr. Olu Akpata.

The first to be admitted into the meeting was Adesina. He thanked the leadership of the law society for the opportunity. Turning to judicial corruption, he noted that it is condemnable, adding however that only a negligible number of judges engage in such misfeasance. He stated that the entire judiciary should not be tarred with the brush of its few bad eggs. Emphasizing the need to empower young lawyers, Adesina stated that he would unveil his roadmap in this regard when the ban on campaigns is lifted by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA).

The next available aspirant, Akpata told the Otu members that welfare is critical for every lawyer, adding that he would also place premium on health insurance. Harping on his track record as Chairman of NBA Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Akpata stated that he “came with credentials.” He stated that aside from disciplining of lawyers, he would foster the administration of justice while ensuring that every lawyer who has a brush with law enforcement agencies is offered legal defence.

On his part, Ajibade expressed worry at the divisions within NBA circles. He vowed to cement the cracks as well as “get the justice sector working again.” Noting that young lawyers should be the focus of NBA, Ajibade said that he has the unique privilege of combining the skills and practical knowledge of a solicitor and advocate, having been engaged in both transactional and litigation practice at relatively high levels.

Coming on the heels of engaging interactions between the members and the aspirants, Chief Chuks Ikokwu, President of Otu Oka Iwu, thanked the aspirants for finding it worthy to felicitate with the law society, and wished them well in their aspiration to lead Africa’s largest Bar.

Among the aspirants for the post of General Secretary who also attended the virtual meeting are Mr. Alex Muoka and Mrs. Joyce Oduah, both members of the law society.

The NBA National Elections is scheduled to hold on July 24 and 25, 2020 through electronic voting.

Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.