Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential candidate, Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe has vowed to “test” issues arising from the 2023 NBA Elections at the Court of Appeal.

In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER, Erojikwe stated that “In view of the foregoing, my lawyers have applied for a certified copy of the Judgment and I will make further comments after reviewing the Judgment with my lawyers. I also intend to test the important constitutional questions raised in this suit by way of an Appeal to the Court of Appeal. It is not just about the NBA 2024 Elections; it is really about transparency in all future NBA Elections and how we conduct our affairs generally as lawyers in Nigeria.”

The senior lawyer clarified that the recent judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) did not touch on who won the last NBA Elections, adding that he merely sought to compel the Electoral Committee of the NBA to give him access to electoral materials used to conduct the election.

Erojikwe also noted that “several bloggers” (not CITY LAWYER) online media outlets reported “either (1) that the Court dismissed my suit challenging the outcome of the Election or (2) that the landslide victory of a candidate at that election was affirmed. Upon further inquiries, I learnt that these bloggers culled their reports from the NBA website and simply reported on the matter without verifying from the Court’s records.” He however described the reports as “wholesale misrepresentation of facts and issues in a judgment.”

PRESS RELEASE:

Dear Colleagues,

You would recall that on 13th August, 2024, I provided you with an update on my quest to compel the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) to release to me the materials that were used to conduct the 20th July, 2024 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections (the “Elections”) in line with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the NBA (the “Constitution”). I informed you at that time that not only did the ECNBA refuse to comply with the Constitution of the NBA, it also directed Electionbuddy Inc, whose platform was used to conduct the Election, to decline releasing the electoral materials to me. Electionbuddy Inc informed me of this development by its email of 27th July, 2024. I therefore filed Suit No. FCT/HC/4393/2024: Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe v Incorporated Trustees of the NBA & 2 Ors to compel NBA, ECNBA and Electionbuddy to release the said materials to me.

On the 27th day of March, 2025, Honourable Justice C.O. Agashiezi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory dismissed the Preliminary Objections filed on behalf of the NBA and ECNBA before proceeding to also dismiss my suit on the ground that I ought to have obtained the consent of all the lawyers in Nigeria who participated in that Election as a condition precedent to enforcing the provisions of the NBA Constitution relating to the release of materials used in an election.

In the Originating Summons, I sought the interpretation of the Second Schedule, Part II, Paragraph 8(b), (c), (d) and (e) of the NBA Constitution which provides as follows:

“8. The ECNBA shall display openness and transparency in all its activities and its relationship with all members, particularly the candidates for the Elections, and shall ensure the following:

(b) provide an explanation in response to reasonable requests, for a decision it has made as part of the electoral process or a decision made as part of the general conduct of the Elections;

(c) establish a system that allows interested parties to access, in a timely manner, all critical information, documents, and databases used in an Elections process, or used in the normal operation of the Elections administration;

(d) disclose fully any deficiency in the administration of an Elections when it comes to its attention;

(e) make freely available and in a timely manner, the information on which each decision was based.” (Emphasis supplied)

Following the said interpretation, the Originating Summons then sought orders of the Court – (1) compelling the Defendants to release to the Claimant the critical materials used to conduct the Election; and (2) restraining Defendants from obstructing the Claimant from assessing such critical election materials.

In its judgment, the Learned Trial Judge agreed with me that by the provisions of the NBA Constitution, the Defendants are obligated to release the materials used in the Election to me. However, His Lordship went further to hold that such right is subject to the Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDA) and the Regulations made pursuant to it, which required the consent of the data subjects as a condition precedent for the release of their personal data to me. Thus, having not obtained the consent of the data subjects, being members of the NBA, whose names and other data appear on the Voters Register and other databases used for that Election, the Court concluded that the Defendants were right to have denied me access to the materials used for the Election. In so doing, His Lordship discountenanced the several exceptions and saving provisions of the NDA cited by my lawyers.

Invariably therefore, the decision of the Court, if allowed to stand, makes the Second Schedule, Part II, Paragraph 8(b), (c), (d) and (e) of the NBA Constitution unenforceable and impracticable because any person seeking to interrogate any future NBA election must first obtain the consent of every lawyer in Nigeria whose names and other details appear in the materials used for the election. This cannot be the intention of the draftsman in the Second Schedule, Part II, Paragraph 8(b), (c), (d) and (e) of the NBA Constitution.

The scenario is similar to a situation where after a Presidential, Governorship or Parliamentary Elections in Nigeria, INEC refuses to provide the candidates who wish to challenge the elections with the Voters’ Register, the actual votes cast at the elections and other materials used in the elections, citing the privacy of voters as the basis for such refusal. Please, contemplate for a moment, the absurdity of a Court directing a candidate in any of such elections to obtain the consent of every Nigerian whose names and other details appear in INEC database before INEC can release the materials used to conduct elections to such candidates. It is simply unimaginable and yet, that was similar to what the Court has directed me to do before I can have access to materials used to conduct an election where I was not just a candidate, but was declared to have scored the second highest votes on the ballots.

In view of the foregoing, my lawyers have applied for a certified copy of the Judgment and I will make further comments after reviewing the Judgment with my lawyers. I also intend to test the important constitutional questions raised in this suit by way of an Appeal to the Court of Appeal. It is not just about the NBA 2024 Elections; it is really about transparency in all future NBA Elections and how we conduct our affairs generally as lawyers in Nigeria.

I will not conclude this press release without addressing the misinformation that followed the delivery of this Judgment. Several bloggers and online media outlets reported either (1) that the Court dismissed my suit challenging the outcome of the Election or (2) that the landslide victory of a candidate at that election was affirmed. Upon further inquiries, I learnt that these bloggers culled their reports from the NBA website and simply reported on the matter without verifying from the Court’s records.

A judgment of a Court is a matter of public records. The Originating Summons and the reliefs sought in it can easily be obtained from the Court. The same applies to the Judgment. The misrepresentation of public records in the manner the NBA has done on its website is unbefitting of such a body. This led to the further dissemination of the misrepresented facts by bloggers who culled their stories from the NBA’s website without verifying the information. Such a wholesale misrepresentation of facts and issues in a judgment where NBA is a party should ordinarily be a cause for serious concern to the NBA. It should, for the sake of accountability, elicit an inquiry for the purpose of investigating and punishing those responsible for this deliberate falsehood bandied to Nigerian lawyers.

The legal profession all over the world is known to be the most noble of professions. Lawyers are by their profession and regulation, people of whom a presumption of truth, integrity and uprightness must be habitually made. I will continue to fight that the Nigerian Bar return to the path of honour where members and non-members alike will easily make a presumption of transparency and integrity in its favour. In my over two decades of legal practice in Nigeria and elsewhere, I have come to know the pivotal role the Bar plays in any country as an effective agent for social engineering and the promotion of the rule of law. The NBA must step up and lead by example. The starting point should be a system that allows its members to transparently choose their leaders and to interrogate the process used in choosing such leaders.

Thank you

Tobenna Erojikwe
31st March, 2025.