Justice Suleiman Belgore of the FCT High Court last Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Treasurer, Caroline Ladidi Anze-Bishop over her disqualification during the last NBA General Elections.

CITY LAWYER gathered that the court distilled one sole issue for determination, namely ‘Whether the Claimant has made out a case for the granting of the reliefs sought.’

In the case, CV/2488/2024, Caroline Ladidi Anze-Bishop v. Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association & 5 Ors, the court held that by Exhibit 7, a letter from the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to the Originating Summons, the Claimant is a staff member of NSCDC and a public servant, adding that she is not an independent lawyer in private practice.

The court held that NBA is free to apply the provisions of its constitution the way it is, adding that the NBA Constitution, as with any statute, must be considered holistically.

The court further held that the NBA Constitution is not in conflict with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, adding that Bishop was not denied fair hearing.

The court then dismissed the lawsuit.

When contacted by CITY LAWYER, Bishop stated that she is awaiting a certified copy of the judgment before deciding on her next move, saying: “It is well, we await the records.”

Asked about the details of the judgment, the fiery former Treasurer, who had sought to vie for the coveted post of NBA General Secretary, said: “The CTC of judgement will tell.”

Asked specifically about her reaction to the judgment, Bishop waxed philosophical, saying: “All in time; peace, be still.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that Bishop was disqualified by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) “as your application and nomination failed to meet the constitutional requirements to contest for the position under the NBA Constitution 2015 (As Amended in 2021) herein after referred to as the Constitution.”

The electoral committee stated that the Bishop failed to convince it during a hearing on a petition by one Musa Tijjani that she was in private legal practice, saying: “Your Annexure 1 is a letter from NSCDC which confirms you as a staff of NSCDC, but granted leave of absence for 4 years to serve the NBA and practice law as a private legal practitioner among other things. It however did not terminate your status as a public servant in the employment of the NSCDC who remain your primary employer and which employment relationship defines your primary status as a public servant”

The verdict was upheld by the National Officers Elections Appeal Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA-NOEAC) led by its Chairman and Bar Leader, Mr. Usman Sule Ogwu SAN.

Justifying her reasons for dragging NBA to court in a letter to NBA members, Bishop wrote: “The matter of justice transcends even my now aspiration to vie for the Office of the NBA General Secretary 2024 and I beseech you all to reckon it so. The NBA is our Commonwealth and not Ceasar’s Wife or the private fiefdom of an anointed few. An injury to any one of us should be the plight of us all combined but I understand that some instead interpret a Lawyer’s action to seek judicial intervention in an NBA matter, as rebellion , or reneging on some bloodline oath, and I humbly think it not, it is not. It is I, today and its pretty easy to brand a Bishop Caroline or conveniently look the other way but it may well be another, tomorrow. It was so with James, until Peter. I have therefore approached the Court in seeking answers on behalf of myself and the countless, voiceless, helpless or even clueless Colleagues of the Bar who are mandated to fulfill uniform obligations of membership in one breath and then yoked with the reality of a discriminative or caste system of membership in terms of limited rights or privileges as housed by the notorious S.9(3)(b) of the NBA Constitution 2021 as amended inter alia, and whose irrelevance, I verily believe the Court will shortly pronounce as repugnant and boot out of our Constitution. I am therefore committed to fight a veiled bully in our midst, which polarises the Bar and which will only grow in bigger dimensions if let as it is: it is a divisive Cancer that will continue to eat at our fabric of unity and consistently present us with a first Class and Second Class crop of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria; wrongly ascribing a robe of Superiority on some and that of inferiority on others.”

• This is a developing story

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