At least three aspirants vying for the posts of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) First and Second Vice President have been disqualified from contesting the forthcoming NBA Elections.

CITY LAWYER gathered that several reasons were given by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) from bringing its hammer down on the aspirants.

Meanwhile, NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata has set up both national and branch appeals committees to resolve appeals that may arise from disqualification of the aspirants.

The nine-member NBA 2022 National Election Appeals Committee (NNEACO) has renowned chartered arbitrator Funmi Roberts as Chairperson with Mr. Austin Ajineh of NBA Warri Branch as Secretary. 

Three NBA 2022 Branch Election Appeals Committees were also established for the three zones, namely East, West and North.

However, at least one aspirant has kicked against his disqualification. In a trending post on his dedicated WhatsApp platform, Mr. Muhammad Idris Doko of NBA Lagos Branch challenged his disqualification, saying the ECNBA decision “came to me as a rude shock.”

Giving more details on his disqualification, he wrote: “The reason for this is that one of my nominators, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is a member of a political party and into active politics. In addition to that, the ECNBA also claimed they could not find evidence of his membership of the National Executive Committee.

“This has come to me as a rude shock but I feel i owe you all a duty to inform you of the present state of things. Your unflinching support over the past few weeks has motivated me so much on this journey and I am forever indebted to you all.”

He vowed to “consider the available options open to me which includes appealing the decision of the ECNBA,” while urging his supporters to “remain calm and steadfast in your support for this project and I promise to inform you of any developments.”

CITY LAWYER gathered that the ECNBA hammer fell on the aspirant as his seconder, Mr. Mohammed Nadayako SAN is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The aspirants were given seven days to appeal the ECNBA decision. In an ECNBA disqualification notice sighted by CITY LAWYER, it wrote: “PLEASE NOTE that by virtue of Part IX, Second Schedule of the Constitution you can appeal to the Election Appeal Committee at e lectionappeal@nigerianbar.org.ng wihtin seven days of the communication of this decision to you.” 

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