NBA SEEKS COMMENTS ON CCA PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS

PRESS RELEASE

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF PRESIDENT, CUSTOMARY COURT OF APPEAL OF THE FCT: REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

Distinguished Colleagues,

Kindly find attached the statement of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON, SAN requesting for comments of members on the suitability for appointment as President, Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja the following judges:

i. Hon. Justice Stanley Adekunle Lawal;

ii. Hon. Justice (Dr) Ngozika Uwazunrunonye Okaisabor and;

iii. Hon. Justice Istifanus Gandu.

Further attached for your consideration is a short profile of the judges.

Thanks and have a great day.

Akorede Habeeb Lawal
National Publicity Secretary

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NBA BLASTS NIGERIA POLICE FOR BERATING JUDICIARY

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has berated the Nigeria Police Force  for stating that the judiciary is to blame for suspects reappearing in the streets after arraignment.

Saying that suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty, NBA Publicity Secretary Habeeb Lawal also alluded that “weak investigations and terrible prosecution” by the police are responsible for the discharge of suspects by the courts.

A tweeter handle, @99%Oppressed had tweeted a picture of one Rasheed Abdulateef, aka Adagun, who the Twitter user alleged was “a cult leader in Agege who led thugs to Alausa in October 2020 to attack unarmed peaceful #EndSARS protesters.”

The tweet also claimed that Abdulateef was “arrested in June 2022 with riffles at Agege by RRS,” asking “@BenHundeyin what is the latest?” Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin is the Public Relations Officer of Lagos State Police Command.

In response to the tweet, SP Hundeyin suggested that the court was responsible for the reappearance of the alleged cultist, saying: “It would shock you that we charge people to court only for us to see them again. The court in its own wisdom frees them. Again, approach the court.”

Responding, Lawal retweeted that “There is nothing shocking about charging persons to court and seeing them again. After all, everyone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Also, the court shouldn’t be subtly made an easy scapegoat for weak investigations and terrible prosecution. Let’s be guided!”

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NBA VOWS TO PROSECUTE CULRPITS OVER AGC FRACAS

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has stated that it would prosecute its members found to have been culpable in the invasion of the centre where the 2022 Annual General Conference (AGC) materials were to be distributed.

In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER by NBA Publicity Secretary, Mr. Habeeb Lawal, NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN said that “the conduct of our colleagues involved in the incident borders on possible violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners and other relevant laws applicable in Lagos State.”

He added that as a promoter of the rule of law, “the NBA has a duty to ensure that such incident does not reoccur and all those who are complicit are brought to book.”

Maikyau stated this while inaugurating a 15-member committee to investigate the incident.

The full text of the statement reads:

INAUGURATION OF CONFERENCE INCIDENT INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE

Dear Distinguished Colleagues,

1. The NBA President, Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN has inaugurated the Conference Incident Investigation Committee (the committee) to investigate the incident that occurred on the sidelines of the just concluded 62nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association at Eko Atlantic City, Victoria Island, Lagos, at the venue for distribution of conference materials. The inauguration held in the course of a virtual meeting held with members of the committee, yesterday, 5th September, 2022.

2. Members of the committee are –

i. Olawale Fapohunda, SAN – Chairman
ii. CP Lough Simon Asamber SAN – Alternate Chairman
iii. Oyinkan Badejo
iv. Mrs. Toluwalope Aderiye
v. Ada Edozie
vi. Daniel Onwe
vii. Mujahid Muhammed
viii. Lucky Ekarume
ix. Chinyere Nworah
x. Adama Mohammed
xi. Shehu Sani Idris
xii. Oyindamola Fashakin – Secretary
xiii. ThankGod-Mina Hope Obeten
xiv. Folashade Owolabi.
xv. Tongshishak John Jude Danjuma

3. In his address at the inauguration of the committee, the NBA President stated that “the conduct of our colleagues involved in the incident borders on possible violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners and other relevant laws applicable in Lagos State.” And as a promoter of the rule of law, the NBA has a duty to ensure that such incident does not reoccur and all those who are complicit are brought to book.

4. The committee was therefore handed the following terms of reference:

i) Investigate the said incident; the immediate and remote cause(s) of the same, and identify the persons involved therein.

ii) Make recommendations concerning the matters stated above, taking into consideration the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association, 2015 (as amended in 2021), Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 and other relevant legislations, policies and guidelines.

The committee is expected to submit its Report (Findings and Recommendations) within a period of 4 weeks from the date of the inauguration.

5. The NBA President thanks members of this committee for accepting to serve.

AKOREDE HABEEB LAWAL
National Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association

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MAIKYAU ROLLS OUT BLUEPRINT, WARNS 2024 NBA ELECTION ASPIRANTS

Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau SAN has warned that aspirants in the 2024 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Elections will be disqualified if they induce voters and branches.

Maikyau spoke yesterday at Eko Hotel, Lagos after he was sworn-in by the immediate past NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata as the 31st President of NBA. He took over the mantle of leadership from Akpata at exactly 2:11 pm after Akpata decorated him with a novel medallion as an insignia of office.

The event was witnessed by Bar Leaders, lawyers and dignitaries including Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa. Also present was former NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN.

The event was not without its undercurrents, against the backdrop of the face-off with the immediate past NBA General Secretary, Mrs. Joyce Oduah.

In his Inaugural Address, Maikyau vowed to reform NBA’s electoral process, warning that aspirants in the 2024 NBA Elections would be “disqualified” if they induce branches or branch chairmen, while such branches and individuals would also be sanctioned. He stated that this is geared towards minimizing the cost of NBA elections.

The sub-themes in Maikyau’s inaugural address included The task ahead and my call to members of the legal profession; State of the nation; The 2023 General Elections, Welfare of lawyers; lawyers’ remuneration; Law officers, legal aid officers and lawyers in public service; In-house counsel and lawyers in business, and NBA Employment Bureau.

Others are NBA law firm/institutional mentorship partnership, Professional conduct and discipline, Independence of the judiciary, Institutional and governance structure, Legal education reform, NBA sections and fora, Rule of law and the administration of justice, and Electoral reforms.

A statement made available to CITY LAWYER by the NBA Publicity Secretary, Mr. Habeeb Lawal said: “Mr. President, Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau SAN immediately set the tone for what promises to be a time of dynamic service and bold leadership, in his vibrant inaugural speech. The full breadth of his speech may be relived in the copy annexed herewith.

“The NBA President also seized the occasion to set in motion some of the administration’s immediate objectives, including announcing the constitution of an Electoral Reform Committee to be chaired by Mr. E. Y. Kura SAN. A key mandate of this committee is the reduction/minimisation of the costs incurred by candidates during NBA national elections.

“Mr. President also announced the constitution of an Enquiry Committee to be chaired by Mr. Wale Fapohunda SAN, whose mandate is to investigate the unfortunate events that transpired on Tuesday, the 23rd of August, 2022 where some delinquent members proceeded to destroy properties and assault staff of the NBA, while members were waiting to collect conference materials.”

Click here for the full text of the Inaugural Address.

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AFAM OSIGWE LEADS MAIKYAU’S TRANSITION COMMITTEE

Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Secretary, Mazi Afam Osigwe has become one of the first appointees of NBA President-elect, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN.

Osigwe is among the 17-member Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) unveiled today by Maikyau in preparation for his assumption of office as substantive NBA President.

A statement signed by Maikyau noted that the committee is in “furtherance of the forthcoming inauguration of the newly elected National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the need for a seamless handover.”

CITY LAWYER gathered from unimpeachable sources that Maikyau held his first meeting with members of the incoming National Executive Committee on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 on the eve of the Annual NBA-SPIDEL Conference. He had promised to run an all-inclusive administration, even as he urged the incoming National Officers to proffer ideas towards success of the regime.

Another meeting held afterwards, with First Vice President Linda Bala presiding, as Maikyau was away to Kano for the burial of deceased senior lawyer, Nassir Abdu Dangiri SAN.

Below is the full text of the statement issued by NBA Publicity Secretary-elect, Mr. Habeeb Lawal.

NOTICE OF CONSTITUTION OF TRANSITION IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE BY THE NBA PRESIDENT-ELECT

In furtherance of the forthcoming inauguration of the newly elected National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the need for a seamless handover, I have constituted a Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) to assist in the transition process.

Members of the Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) include:
1) Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN
2) Yemi Akangbe
3) Abdul Mohammed, SAN
4) Alhaji Salman Salman
5) Aminu Sani Gadanya
6) Augustine Nwabueze Eseagu
7) Abdulwasiu Alfa
8) Laura Alakija
9) Folarin Aluko
10) Barbara Omosun
11) Aisha M. Hassan
12) Chinaecherem Nwaubani
13) Paul Daudu
14) Isah Abubakar Aliyu
15) Olabamiji Adeyeye
16) Mohammed Adelodun
17) Kola Omotinugbon

I thank these distinguished ladies and gentlemen for accepting to serve on this Committee. I have absolute confidence in their capacity to discharge this task with the requisite dedication and excellence.

Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, FCIArb, FICMC
President-elect, NBA

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ECNBA ISSUES FINAL LIST OF CANDIDATES, ASHIMOLE DISQUALIFIED

The Nigerian Bar Association National Election Petitions Committee has now disqualified controversial NBA Publicity Secretary aspirant, Mr. Felix Ashimole aka Che Oyinatumba from participating in the forthcoming NBA Elections, paving the way for Messrs Ogaga Emoghawanre and Habeeb Akorede Lawal to slug it out for the post.

A document obtained by CITY LAWYER shows that the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) has also listed the canidates that will do battle at the elections.

The list is below.

ECNBA_FINAL LIST

https://citylawyermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ECNBA_FINAL-LIST.pdf 

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OYO STATE AND DELAY IN APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES

The appointment of judges has been a thorny issue in recent times. In this article by MR. IBRAHIM LAWAL, he asserts that the Oyo State Judicial Service Commission has shown tardiness in the appointment of judges, arguing that this has occasioned hardship for lawyers and justice delivery in the state

APPOINTMENT OF NEW JUDGES IN OYO STATE: NEED TO BE PROACTIVE.

There is no denying the fact that Oyo State Judiciary does not have full complement of Judges to man her various courts spread across the state. The shortage in the number of Judges had negative impact on the turnout of numbers of cases heard and decided in a given year.

Despite the shortage, many of our Judges are retiring this year and next year, thereby compounding the problems being faced by lawyers and litigants alike. I know of a judge who is due for retirement in the next couple of months and thereby decided not to open new cases.

The process of appointment of new Judges should commence before the due date for those retiring. Admirably, the Supreme Court is already out with a notice of appointment of new Supreme Court Justices to fill the vacancies of not only those that had retired or dead but also those who are going to retire in some months to come.

In Oyo State, the process of appointment of new Judges started with the submission of application by those interested since last August. It has been motion without movement since then. Ekiti State started their own process after that of Oyo State and those Judges have been sworn in by the Governor.

Recall that it was this tardiness in the appointment of Judges that led to several deaths of some of our finest hands before the last crop of Judges were appointed. I thought that coming from such horrible experience, Oyo State should have learnt her lessons and handle the issues of Judges appointment with utmost dispatch.

The Judicial Service Commission should be alive to its responsibility by ensuring that the process is fast tracked and ensure that we have enough Judges to man our courts. The JSC should as a matter of duty cooperate with the Chief Judge to ensure the process is done without a hitch.

We cannot continue to say the same thing all the time. This is the time for every stakeholder in the Justice administration to wake up and do the needful.

  • Ibrahim Lawal is the Head of Chamber, Olujinmi & Akeredolu of the Law Hub 9 Ring Road, opposite Iyaganku GRA Roundabout, Ibadan.

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LAWYER SENDS SOS TO FEDERAL HIGH COURT

In this article by MR. IBRAHIM LAWAL, Head of Chamber, Olujinmi & Akeredolu of the Law Hub, Ibadan, he chronicles the challenges faced by lawyers due to the transfer of a Federal High Court jurist from Ibadan and urges the court to redress the issue

 

FEDERAL HIGH COURT IBADAN AND THE DIFFICULTY IN GETTING JUSTICE

The Federal High Court which started as a revenue court has assumed an important role in our judicial system by virtue of the exclusive jurisdiction donated to it in our Constitution. Only the Federal High Court can adjudicate on matters enumerated in Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, and by virtue of which Federal High Courts were created in each state of the Federation for easy access to justice.

However, in creating those Courts, certain states were recognized as hubs of commercial activities, which made the authority to create more than a court room in such States. For instance, Lagos State can boast of more than ten court rooms while Ibadan was allocated two which in itself is grossly inadequate!

The Federal High Court Ibadan over the years have been manned by two Judges until about a year now when Hon. Justice Malik was transferred to Abeokuta division of the court, the court is now being manned by only one Judge. The judge in actual fact is hardworking but the cases in his Lordship dockets are overwhelming.

All the cases assigned to Justice Malik court have suffered permanent adjournment with dire consequences on lawyers and litigants alike. What is more, the cases at the Federal High Court are business oriented cases which should not for any reason be delayed.

A colleague of mine is facing a serious crisis of confidence with his client simply because he could not secure an order because his application was assigned to the court without a judge! The matter has to do with transactional issue and because of that failure, the company’s account has been blocked! This is just one example of so many of our colleagues that have suffered because of the absence of a presiding Judge in the other Court.

Do we mention the criminal cases that have been pending and the Defendants languishing in detention because the court has not been sitting?

This state of affairs at the Federal High Court Ibadan is no longer bearable for us as lawyers and we beseech the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, to as a matter of urgency make available a Judge for this Court.

We trust this appeal will be given the attention it deserves and hope that the new year will be better than the last.

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THE USORO LEGACY: NBA NEC MEETINGS

BY AKOREDE HABEEB LAWAL

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Assistant Publicity Secretary, MR. AKOREDE HABEEB LAWAL in this article made available to CITY LAWYER tracks the gains of the Paul Usoro SAN-led Administration in organizing National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) meetings.

Meetings of the Nigerian Bar Association are above the simplistic coming together of two or more persons to discuss issues of mutual interest. The meetings of members of the NBA are to varying degrees the major decision making organs of the Bar. The essence, in my view, is democratic. And unsurprisingly, by virtue of Article 5 of the NBA Constitution, 2015 (as amended) the supreme authority of the Bar rests in the General Meeting.

At the national end, the NBA is mandated to hold three statutory meetings – National Officers meeting, National Executive Committee meeting and the General Meeting. The monthly National Officers meetings have an expected attendance of the 14 elected officers. The quarterly National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings are attended by almost 500 statutory and co-opted NEC members. The Annual General meeting is open to all members and participants in recent years had hardly been lesser than 1000 in number.

The logistics of holding these statutory meetings are quite heavy on the purse of the association, but we cannot run the extreme by limiting the meetings – both in essence and numbers – as the meetings serve as necessary and statutory checks on the Bar leadership. Thus, while we cannot cut down on the meetings, we can and we have been cutting down on the costs of the meetings since September 2018, when the Paul Usoro, SAN leadership came on board.

It was at the first NEC meeting hosted by the Paul Usoro, SAN administration in December 2018 at the NBA House in Abuja that the tone of changing the status quo was set.

NEC members came expecting their usual hurriedly printed NEC entrance tags, but they were met with bespoke neck tags bearing their names and the duration of their term (2018 to 2020). At the end of the meeting, the Secretariat staff recalled the tags from the participants and kept them. Upon return for the next NEC meeting, the same tags were returned to the respective NEC members and this has been the culture since 2018. One NEC tag for one NEC member in one NEC term. No reprinting tags. No return of money to the NEC Printer!

Hitherto, NBA used to ‘bless’ her NEC members with what was known as NEC Bundle. NEC Bundles were nicely printed hard books with the sober green logo of the NBA on their covers. A flip through the pages welcome you with the glossy pictures of National officers and ordinary prints of quarterly reports of all NBA activities. In a year, a NEC member would go home with 4 of such and if well arranged, you would easily mistake NEC Bundles for useful law books on the shelves of the library of a NEC member. The only difference is that they were bought for the half of a thousand NEC members with NBA funds – running into tens of millions.

Since December 2018, the ‘NEC Bundle’ and its contractors regime has been ousted. In its stead, NEC reports are sent via emails and special WhatsApp Groups to all NEC members prior to the meetings. NEC members are encouraged to attend the meetings with their devices and, in place of heavy NEC bundles, the Paul Usoro leadership makes pervasive fast internet facilities at the venue of the meeting to aid free and easier downloads of the electronic reports. In addition to this, the reports are projected on a large screen for members to follow proceedings.

It was the same initiative that the present NBA leadership adopted on a bigger scale at her first Annual General meeting in 2019. The yearly reports were electronically reduced into PDF formats and were sent to members via emails. By this seemingly simple but ingenious efforts, we saved our association hundreds of millions that would have gone to some printers. And this is one of the reasons we were able to record for the first time ever hundreds of millions as surplus, post -2019 annual general conference.

While the conversation about the NBA picking the hotel bills of statutory NEC members is ongoing, the Paul Usoro administration has made the process more transparent and prudent. Shifting from the earlier system of reserving hotel accommodation for statutory members who may end up not attending the meeting, presently, until a NEC member is confirmed physically present for the meeting, reservations of accommodation are not availed. An indication of the success of this system is that in 2019 and for arguably the first time ever in the NBA history, the present Welfare Secretary, Joshua Enemali Usman returned more than a million Naira of un-utilized hotel bills to the coffers of the NBA.

In respect of meetings of National Officers, long before Covid-19 pandemic, and at the first constitutional amendment opportunity in August 2019, this NBA administration caused the General meeting to amend the NBA Constitution by adding a proviso to Article 8 (6). The said provision now allows for the monthly national officers meeting to hold via teleconference, videoconference and other electronic means, thereby cutting hotel and travel costs that would otherwise have been incurred.

This forward looking provision defines how leadership stands tall to take a peep into the future and face it by earnestly changing the status quo.

“Upon return for the next NEC meeting, the same tags were returned to the respective NEC members and this has been the culture since 2018. One NEC tag for one NEC member in one NEC term. No reprinting tags. No return of money to the NEC Printer!”

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