BPF – CITY LAWYER MAGAZINE

EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jan 07, 2022
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BPF: NBA REVERSES SELF, CANCELS TRANSACTION CHARGES

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has cancelled the transaction charges payable by lawyers for the annual Bar Practising Fee (BPF).

A statement personally signed by NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata, noted that “the leadership of the NBA has resolved that the Association will, as was the case with AGC 2021, bear the transaction charges associated with the payment of 2022 BPF.”

It stated that the controversy generated by the high transaction charges by PAYSTACK was due to a communication gap between the NBA leadership and the service provider, adding that “while the NBA team expected that the 2021 AGC reduced fee and pass-through arrangement would hold sway, the Paystack team, having not received any clear directive in this regard, reverted to the default position which is to debit transaction charges from the purchaser, in this case, members of the Association.”

Akpata reiterated that there was no revenue sharing arrangement between the association and PAYSTACK, adding that “no portion of the transaction fees charged by Paystack is shared with or remitted to the NBA, or any of its officers or members of staff.”

The NBA leadership also said that while alternative payment platforms could be desirable, “this new arrangement of moving BPF payments online only would help the NBA improve its service offering to members, restore confidence in our electoral process and enhance accurate data gathering. The NBA will therefore continue with the online only payment policy.”

It is recalled that former NBA Lagos Branch Treasurer and erstwhile Financial Secretary, Mr. Phillip Njeteneh had in an article in CITY LAWYER chided NBA for the high charges, wondering whether the association retains a portion of the charges.

Below is the full text of Akpata’s statement.

My Dear Colleagues,

Compliments of the season and best wishes for 2022.

Since 1st January 2022 when we fully transitioned to paying our annual Bar Practising Fees (“BPF”) online, there have been numerous complaints and commentaries by some of our colleagues on a number of points. This is certainly not unexpected because transitioning to a new process, no matter how laudable or desirable, typically comes with some challenges, analyses, pushback, and initial resistance. However, as mentioned in one of our most recent notices to you, the NBA is, as it should be, open to considering all views aimed at improving our processes, and generally advancing the interests of our members and the profession. To this end, our publicity team has been responding to many of the issues raised so far and I have thought it appropriate to add to our existing responses as follows:

1. Engagement of Paystack – Paystack has been the NBA Service Provider since 2019, before this administration came on board in August 2020. A fair and transparent process for engaging them was concluded at the relevant time and this administration has continued to utilise their services, which have been quite satisfactory. We utilised Paystack’s services for processing 2021 BPF (online) payments under a hybrid arrangement and also for the 2021 Annual General Conference (AGC) registration.

2. Fees charged by Paystack – with regard to payments to Paystack for their services, in 2020, those who paid their BPF online also paid a transaction fee to Paystack which amounted to circa 2% of the transaction amount. For example, BPF of N25,000 attracted about N482.24 as transaction fee. Similarly, in 2021 (under this administration), those who opted to pay their BPF online paid the same transaction fee to Paystack. This is consistent with the contract signed with Paystack when they were engaged.

3. Bearing Paystack fees for members – with respect to the 2021 AGC for which registration was online only, the NBA was able to work out an arrangement whereby the Paystack transaction fee was not only reduced but was borne entirely by the NBA. As such, all those who registered for the 2021 AGC did not have to bear any direct transaction cost for paying online. Coming now to BPF 2022, which is to be paid online only, while the NBA team expected that the 2021 AGC reduced fee and pass-through arrangement would hold sway, the Paystack team, having not received any clear directive in this regard, reverted to the default position which is to debit transaction charges from the purchaser, in this case, members of the Association.

4. Transaction charges for BPF 2022 – the NBA has been able to negotiate a revised fee of 1.3% with Paystack for their services relating to the 2022 BPF payments. Considering that this year would be the first time when members will be required to pay their BPF online only, the leadership of the NBA has resolved that the Association will, as was the case with AGC 2021, bear the transaction charges associated with the payment of 2022 BPF.

5. Who pays the transaction charges in the future? – Going forward, it will be necessary for our Association to come to terms with the fact that online payment for goods and services has now become the norm, and those who provide the platforms through which we are able to make these payments, do so for a fee. Therefore, at the earliest opportunity, I will table a request before the NBA-NEC to take a view or make a determination on whether such future payments should continue to be borne by the Association or by the members directly.

6. Revenue Sharing with Paystack – the NBA reiterates that no portion of the transaction fees charged by Paystack is shared with or remitted to the NBA, or any of its officers or members of staff. All fees charged by them for the service(s) that they render go directly and solely to them, and the BPF paid by members is channeled by Paystack directly into the Supreme Court of Nigeria BPF Account No: 0000976716 which is held with Access Bank. The insinuations, and indeed allegations, in some quarters, to the effect that there are underhanded payments and kickbacks with respect to the transaction fees are most unfortunate.

7. Increase in BPF – to be sure, payment of transaction charges is incidental to making online payments (whether they be BPF, taxes, statutory payments, bank transfers, etc.). Such payment is not an increase in BPF as has been suggested by some of our members.

8. A dual payment system – there have been suggestions that the NBA should allow members the option of either paying their BPF online or making cash deposits at the bank. Interestingly, such hybrid system of BPF payment has existed at the NBA for at least two years, but it has proven to be inefficient to a large extent. Experience has shown that this arrangement has affected our record keeping and the integrity of some of our processes including accurate database of lawyers, NBA voters register, easy processing of stamp and seal, etc. and we are committed to eliminating these inefficiencies. So, besides the convenience for our members and the fact that electronic payment is desirable and consistent with global trends, this new arrangement of moving BPF payments online only would help the NBA improve its service offering to members, restore confidence in our electoral process and enhance accurate data gathering. The NBA will therefore continue with the online only payment policy.

9. Alternative service providers – there have been requests for the NBA to engage alternative or multiple service providers so as to allow our members choose the platform on which to make payments. While we remain satisfied with the current service offering, we will certainly consider this request in due course. The first quarter of each year is the peak period for payment of BPF by our members and we have been advised by our technical team that any consideration of alternatives to the existing platform will be best done when the high traffic abates in order not to disrupt the smooth operation of the system.

I thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

OLUMIDE AKPATA
President
Nigerian Bar Association

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EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jan 04, 2022
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NBA ADMITS BPF CHARGES ARE HIGH, SAYS LAWYERS WILL GET REFUND

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has admitted that the charges being levied by Paystack for its services on the dedicated BPF Online Payment Platform “are relatively on the high side.”

The Olumide Akpata-led NBA has also vowed to engage the service provider for a downward review of the charges which currently range between N177 to a maximum of N863 for SANs and Benchers, adding that lawyers who already paid the high charges would be refunded.

In a statement by the NBA National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Rapulu Nduka, the bar association indicated that Paystack may have hiked the charges without its consent, noting that “It was our understanding that the fees chargeable on the payment of 2022 BPF would not be different from what was paid last year.”

The association stated that it has started engaging Paystack for a downward review of the charges and that once a resolution is reached, “the charges will be reduced and those lawyers who already paid the higher sum will receive a pro rata refund of the charges paid.”

Below is the full text of the statement made available to CITY LAWYER.

BAR PRACTISING FEES – NBA’S POSITION AND NEXT STEPS ON TRANSACTION COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ONLINE PAYMENTS

Dear Colleagues,

The leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has read several commentaries, and also received numerous calls, regarding the costs charged by NBA’s long-standing service provider (Paystack) for settling transactions on the BPF Online Payment Platform.

To be sure, the common theme of the complaints is that the transaction costs are exorbitant and need to be reviewed downwards. We have taken on board all the complaints and now respond as follows:

1. The leadership of the NBA is open to all criticisms aimed at advancing our common cause, improving our processes/systems, protecting the interests of our members and overall, moving our profession forward. The NBA therefore welcomes and appreciates the concerns that have, so far, been expressed on this issue.

2. For the avoidance of doubt, there has been no increase in the amount payable as BPF. The transaction costs (ranging from a floor of N177 to a maximum of N863 for SANs and Benchers) that members are charged when they pay their BPF online are wholly and exclusively due to Paystack for its services. No portion of those costs are shared with, or remitted to, the NBA.

3. Indeed, upon our review of the fees charged by Paystack for similar transactions in the past, such as payment of 2021 BPF and payment of fees for the 2021 NBA-AGC, the leadership of the NBA agrees that the current charges are relatively on the high side. It was our understanding that the fees chargeable on the payment of 2022 BPF would not be different from what was paid last year.

4. On the basis of the above, the NBA has started engaging with Paystack to review the charges downwards. This engagement has however been impacted by the public holidays albeit we expect that the issue will be resolved shortly.

5. Once this happens, the charges will be reduced and those lawyers who already paid the higher sum will receive a pro rata refund of the charges paid.

We thank you for your understanding.

Dr. Rapulu Nduka
Publicity Secretary,
Nigerian Bar Association

EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jan 03, 2022
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BPF: EX TREASURER CARPETS NBA OVER ‘HIGH’ SERVICE CHARGE, URGES REVERSAL

Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch Treasurer, MR. PHILLIP NJETENEH has queried the “high” service charge for online payment of Bar Practice Fee (BPF).

In an article addressed to the NBA leadership, Njeteneh also decried the retention of Access Bank Plc as the sole agent-bank for payment of BPF, arguing that the present framework does not foster the welfarist agenda of the Olumide Akpata-led NBA.

NBA ONLINE PAYMENT CHANNEL & MONOPOLY – A REACTION TO DR. RAPULU NDUKA’s LETTER TO MEMBERS

Dear Dr. Rapulu Nduka
Nigerian Bar Association.

Re: MATTERS ARISING FROM THE RECENTLY LAUNCHED NBA PORTAL FOR PAYMENT OF 2022 BPF & OTHER RELATED ISSUES

Thank you for the letter above to members and thank you for the wonderful job your team under the leadership of our able President have been doing.

However, much as we praise you when you hit the bull’s eyes on our affairs we must at least let you know (even if we choose not to apply the knocks) when you hit us below the belt.

Just as you have brought out the bullet points of the benefits of this monopoly of channel of payment, let me equally echo some observations about this channel of payment which I was hoping to read from your letter above but which I did not see.

For starters, are you aware that there are complaints about the additional charges to payment under this channel?

For many, paying almost #500 additional as charges when there are better and less exorbitant charges available is something they don’t consider welfarist.

These high charges, are they an error like the error of the Senior Advocates/Benchers payment or these are charges that have come to stay?

These exorbitant charges, are they another form of revenue to the NBA to take care of its welfare packages for its members or this is a revenue solely going into the pocket of the service provider?

If this is a case of the former shouldn’t members be informed so they know they are contributing towards their welfare and if this is a case of the latter is that the best welfarist deal for the members & why must members be forced to to go the way of the most expensive?

Monopoly has never been a welfarist tool, instead it’s the opposite. We know you inherited a monopolistic tool in the name of only Access Bank as the sole Bank for payment of BPF after other Banks were dislodged, but continuing with that monopolistic route does not at the end different your welfarist agenda from the monopolistic rule of the past.

Yes it’s good to move with the tide but in moving with the tide your goal is taking your people safely to the shore and not your people floating ashore.

On this BPF collection it’s my humble opinion that your body language and welfarist agenda is that of an open system which allows for competition where service providers outdo themselves to serve us and not we locking ourselves from competition so a single service provider can feed fat on us.

Please let there be several service providers and channels, NBA is to big to be run as a monopoly when it comes to BPF. Let there be more Banks than a single Bank and let each come with its payment system and let members decide which Bank suites them best based on their payment system and ease of doing business. In 2016 NBA Lagos Branch introduced online payment along with direct payment in the bank. At that period the charges about #250 and there was complaint from members but the direct payment was still open.

Another advantage of having a welfarist leadership is that the leadership listens hence I believe you are reading and listening to the complaints members are making just a few hours into the new year, these complaints are not about to fade away, it’s only going to grow louder and larger and you can either prove your welfarist nature and have them resolved within your tenure or you can choose to manage the situation with rhetorics until your tenure comes to an end & it becomes the headache of next team.

Once again, I say well done to your team for how far you have come, there’s more to be done.

Good morning.

I remain

Philips Njeteneh
Just minding my business.

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. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. The assertions and opinions expressed in articles, announcements and/or news on this website reflect the views of the author(s) and do not (necessarily) reflect the views of the webmaster, the internet provider or CITY LAWYER. CITY LAWYER can in no way whatsoever be held responsible for the content of such views nor can it be held liable for any direct or indirect damage that may arise from such views. CITY LAWYER neither guarantees nor supports any product or service mentioned on this website, nor does it warrant any assertions made by the manufacturers or promoters of such products or services. Users of this website are always recommended to obtain independent information and/or to perform independent research before using the information acquired via this website.

EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jan 03, 2022
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BPF: OJUKWU COUNTERS OKUTEPA, SAYS NBA IS ‘CASHIER’ TO SUPREME COURT

The controversy generated by the query raised by former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lead Prosecutor, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa SAN on the legality of paying Bar Practice Fees via NBA portal may not go away very soon.

Okutepa had in a post he made on a CITY LAWYER WhatsAPP platform argued that there is no legal basis for NBA to receive BPF from lawyers, saying: “where does NBA derive its powers to collect practising from lawyers and direct that payment shall be online through portal created by NBA.”

In this piece made available to CITY LAWYER, former NBA presidential candidate and erstwhile Deputy Director-General at the Nigerian Law School, PROF. ERNEST OJUKWU SAN aligns with the NBA leadership, arguing that the association merely acts as a “cashier” for the Supreme Court in receiving BPF.

Below is the full text of his opinion.

THERE IS NO LEGAL IMPEDIMENT OR DETRIMENT TO NBA ONLINE PRACTICE FEE PAYMENTS
I read the explanation of the Nigerian Bar Association on the payment of Bar Practicing Fee through a mandatory online portal. The NBA explanation was a response to the controversial discussions generated by the issues raised by distinguished member, JS. Okutepa SAN.

There is no legal impediment from the Legal Practitioners Act or any law to the use of NBA online portal for the payment of our practice fee. There is also no detriment except maybe the charge of nearly N500 by paystack for the service which the leadership of NBA should renegotiate urgently to not more than N100.

The legal basis for this position is that no law, including the LPA provides “how” to pay the practice fee. LPA only states “who” to pay to. And that “who” to pay to is not violated by the use of NBA online portal. The NBA explanation on this clearly states that “All BPF payments made through the Online Portal are,… paid directly to an already existing Supreme Court Bar Practicing Fee Account. The NBA, through the Online Payment Portal, only provides a gateway or platform for a seamless payment…” (emphasis mine).

That Supreme Court Bar Practice fee account is managed by the Registrar Supreme Court (and since about 2011 in conjunction with NBA). The NBA online portal does not “receive” money and keep it. The portal is only the CASHIER like the cashier-teller at the bank, who takes the money and hands over to the bank who now keeps the money. In the online system, the portal (cashier) does not even touch or see money. It only receives instructions that requests it to request the movement of money from one bank account to another account- in this case to the Supreme Court Bar Practice fee account.

Many years ago, payment of Bar Practice fee was to Cashiers at the Supreme Court. The Registrar was not given the money in his hand. The payment to cashiers was not provided in the LPA. It was solely based on the fact that the Registrar had delegated the collection of the fee to his staff- cashiers. Later the Registrar now asked banks to provide the cashiers at the Supreme Court. So, we moved from paying Registrar staff who were the cashiers to paying cashiers who worked directly with banks but had their kiosks at the Supreme Court premises. The delegation to bank cashiers was also not provided in the LPA. Then we moved to the next stage of allowing members to go to designated bank and pay directly into the bank account of the Registrar’s Supreme Court Bar Practicing fee account. So instead of travelling to Abuja and to the Supreme Court, members could pay to bank cashiers at the designated bank in any part of Nigeria. That mode of paying directly to the banks is also not in the LPA. In 2019/2020 the last NBA administration achieved the outcome of getting a hybrid payment mode- either by members going to the banks or making online transfer of our bar practice fee. Now we have conquered this low hanging fruit by making it one mode- pay online.

For an online payment to work, the signatory to the account must authorize it. It is therefore clear that the Registrar of the Supreme Court who is the signatory to the Supreme Court Bar Practice Fee account authorized this mode of receiving money by the bank where he keeps our money. Nobody can operate an online payment portal without authorizing it. No bank will operate it unless the signatories authorized it.

NBA does not primarily receive the bar practice fee paid by members except when accounts are reconciled, and the Registrar authorizes the percentage pay over to the Bar as stated in the LPA. That has not changed with the online payment mode.

Over the years the Registrar Supreme Court only prescribed who his cashiers were (are). The Registrar has just decided to make the online portal his cashier. Nothing spoil as we say.

We must commend the Registrar Supreme Court for implementing this best practice and the Nigerian Bar Association leadership and NEC for the bold step on providing a digital payment platform for the profession. This is one of the strongest measures for accountability! I hear that SPIDEL members can only now pay their membership dues online. I hear that NBA Lagos members can only pay their branch dues online. I was at the meeting of NBA Aba branch in September 2021 when they launched their POS for payment. Kudos, but they still need to move to online payment completely. What is happening with the other branches? Please take our branches out of the list of our profession’s weakest link!!!

2nd January 2022
Ernest Ojukwu

EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jan 01, 2022
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OKUTEPA QUERIES PAYMENT OF PRACTISING FEE VIA NBA PORTAL

Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lead Prosecutor at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), Mr. Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) has challenged the legality of lawyers paying the annual Bar Practice Fee (BPF) through an NBA portal.

In a post he made today on a CITY LAWYER WhatsAPP platform while tagging an NBA Notice on payment of BPF, the fiery senior lawyer argued that there is no legal basis for NBA to receive the fee from lawyers, saying: “where does NBA derive its powers to collect practising from lawyers and direct that payment shall be online through portal created by NBA.”

He stated that the Legal Practitioners Act mandates only the “Registrar” to collect BPF, saying: “How did we come to the practice of paying our bar practising fees through the portal of NBA? Can somebody guide me? As lawyers, we must not follow the rules without the backing of the law.”

It is recalled that NBA had issued a notice to members thus: “As you may already be aware, the National Executive Council (“NEC”) of the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”), at its last NEC meeting held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on the 16th day of December 2021, resolved that manual Bar Practicing Fee (“BPF”) payments be jettisoned. Consequently, BPF payments can only be made through the NBA Online Payment Portal, with effect from the 1st day of January 2022. Members can now make individual or group payments through the Portal.”

The full text of Okutepa’s post made on his verified handle is below:

In the light of the provisions of the legal practitioner Act, particularly section 7 thereof which is yet to be amended,where does NBA derive its powers to collect practising from lawyers and direct that payment shall be online through portal created by NBA. For added measures, this is what LPA says in section 7 thereof: No legal practitioner (other than such a person as is mentioned in subsection (3) of section 2 of this Act) shall be accorded the right of audience in any court in Nigeria in any year, unless he has paid to the Registrar in respect of that year, a practising fee as is from time to time prescribed by the Attorney‐General of the Federation after consultation with the association.

[1999 No. 31.]

(3) The Registrar shall‐

(a) issue to every person by whom a practising fee is paid in respect of any year a receipt for the fee in the prescribed form; and

(b) as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of January in each year and thereafter from time to time during the year as he considers appropriate cause to be printed in the prescribed form and put on sale a list or supplementary list of the legal practitioners by whom practising fees have been paid in respect of that year; and

(c) pay over to the Association as soon as may be after the end of each year a sum equal to nine tenths of the aggregate amount of the practising fees received by him in pursuance of this section during the year,

and a receipt purporting to be issued and list purporting to be printed in pursuance of this subsection in respect of any year shall be evidence that the person named in the receipt or, as the case may be, that any person named in the list has paid to the Registrar the practising fee in respect of that year.

As lawyers, we must do things according to law. The payment of practising fees is a statutory duty and a creation of law. The law sets/ directs how the payments are to be made by lawyers and who is to issue receipts. It also sets out how NBA should benefit from the payments made by lawyers. How did we come to the practice of paying our bar practising fees through the portal of NBA? Can somebody guide me? As lawyers, we must not follow the rules without the backing of the law.

EMEKA NWADIOKE
Jul 12, 2020
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THE USORO LEGACY: RESOLVING LAWYERS’ DATABASE CONUNDRUM

BY AKOREDE HABEEB LAWAL

In this article, Nigerian Bar Association Assistant Publicity Secretary, AKOREDE HABEEB LAWAL traces the age-old challenge of developing a reliable database of lawyers in Nigeria, saying that the Paul Usoro Administration has admirably resolved the conundrum

It is 2020, another bar election year. At about this time in 2018, there was a unique request by members of the Bar. Contestants to various offices promised heaven and earth on how they intended to provide the unique request. For one unusual and ‘un-Nigerian’ reason, that request is not being made this year. Why? It has been done. The Paul Usoro administration has done it. Members can now pay their Bar Practising Fees (BPF) in the comfort of their homes using the NBA Portal. In fact, 30% of members who paid their BPF in 2020 did through the NBA website.

The NBA website has various unique features. At first glance, it welcomes you with a beautiful feel and an easy to navigate tool. The revamped NBA website compares favourably in content, context and connectivity with the best web portals around. It is a gateway to NBA activities and it is fast becoming a one-stop shop for Bar services.

Speaking of Bar services, aside the already utilized option of payment of BPF and download of the BPF receipts, the NBA website avails members their personalized membership portals. The process for the stamp and seal application will soon migrate online and the insurance certificate of all members will also be duly uploaded for downloads. In the coming days, member will be able to apply for letter of good standing and check his/her ICLE points on the exclusive membership portal, while everyone including non-lawyers may also use the “find a lawyer” feature to confirm the authenticity of anyone who claims to be a lawyer.

Some of the ills of the previous website were that it could not welcome huge traffic and it was not secured to host payment gateways. Therefore, the NBA had to build (of course with millions of Naira) a special purpose website every year for its annual general conference. Good news is that we are done with that awkward situation. Registration has now commenced for the 2020 Annual General Conference and everything about the conference is being done on our revamped NBA website.

A further vote of confidence was given to the NBA website by the decision of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) to host the 2020 national officers election on the website. When this is done, it will arguably mark the first time since the introduction of electronic voting that Bar balloting is not hosted on a foreign platform.

A website is a house of data and there is no data in this context as important as the data of lawyers. In September 2018, at our first national officers meeting, the NBA President was clear that one of the things his administration would strive to achieve is the development of an up-to-date, clean and reliable database of all lawyers who have been enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN hardly spares any opportunity to reiterate the fact that “without a reliable database that could be used for research purposes, proper planning and forecasting by the NBA is impossible.”

It stands to reason that in order to address an issue as sensitive and important as welfare of young lawyers, we must be able to ascertain in actual terms the number of young lawyers there really are. We are on track with this data classification and the one year free subscription of LawPavilion electronic legal resources for all young lawyers who had paid their BPF before 31st of March, 2020 was our first attempt to rely on this data gathering effort. Similar data classification has to be developed for female lawyers, colleagues with disabilities, our aged members and other
classes of members of the NBA.

“By the way, it is good to answer the question of cost. The Paul Usoro administration paid no dime for the new NBA website. We knew what we wanted in a website and we got a sponsor to pay for it.”

In our pursuit of this ‘clean and reliable’ data ideal, the administration embarked on a verification exercise. Verification entails from the front end the inputting of personal data by a member and most importantly the upload of call to bar certificate. At the backend, the uploaded bar certificate will be crosschecked with the details of the member on the roll of legal practitioners before the approval of the application for verification.

The verification process in the past attracted a N2000 processing fee, knowing the overall importance of this exercise, the NBA President, Paul Usoro, SAN directed that the process must and should be free of any charge. With this exercise, a number of misspelt names in the database have been corrected, change of maiden names by female lawyers are being effected, email addresses and phone numbers of thousand of members are now updated, many lawyers now know their enrolment numbers and gradually, we are closer than ever to our aim of delivering a clean and reliable database.

If we ever needed a reminder of the significance of a clean database, the appearance of “Opening Balance” on the list of voters sent by Branches and published by the ECNBA was a ready one. Aside the imaginary “Opening Balance”, there are real charlatans who are ‘well balanced’ in legal practice – taking up the space in our little legal market – that we must wield out. Therefore, verification becomes non-negotiable. It is because of verification that “Opening Balance” and non-lawyers with regular names will be unable to access the NBA Membership portal to vote or illegally enjoy other NBA online services. While the verification agenda was not primarily built for the 2020 national officers’ election, the accreditation purpose it now serves is indeed laudable.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our world and opened the vista of virtual interactions. Bar services and engagement within the NBA will have to move online and these have to be fast, quick, secured and effective. The Paul Usoro administration commenced the journey towards revamping the NBA website to provide all these services long before the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a huge foundational task that we have more than completed and it behoves on succeeding administrations to build on this cornerstone.

By the way, it is good to answer the question of cost. The Paul Usoro administration paid no dime for the new NBA website. We knew what we wanted in a website and we got a sponsor to pay for it. 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.

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