The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has rejected the proposed amendment of the NBA constitution 2015 (as Amended in 2021) which among other things, abolished election into the office of President.
The proposed constitution obtained by THE WHISTLER, recommends that NBA’s president should upon completion of his tenure, be succeeded by the Vice President of the association.
The document was prepared by and submitted to the NBA by its Constitution Review Committee headed by Chief Asamah Kadiri SAN.
Advertisement
The subsisting NBA constitution (amended in 2021) recommends that each National Officer, including the president, shall be elected for a single term of 2 years.
The current NBA constitution further states that the office of the president shall be contested for by qualified candidates who are lawyers.
But the proposed document stipulated succession into the office of President by the vice President of the association.
Section 9 (3) (c) of the proposed amendment reads, “With respect to the office of the President, is the immediate past Vice President of the Association. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, ascension to the office of President of the Association shall be by succession, save for the circumstances listed in paragraph 4, part III of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.
” Provided that where the office of the Vice President is vacant at the time of succession, election may be held for the office of the President. This provision shall become operative after the 2024 elections of the Association.”
Part 3 of the second schedule of the proposed constitution, stated that “in the event of a vacancy in the office of the President, Vice President or General Secretary, following the death, permanent incapacitation, resignation or such like, the position shall be filled by another duly qualified member of the Bar from the same zone as the previous occupant, who shall be elected in a by-election to be conducted not later than 45 days following the vacancy.”
It added that an officer elected in a by-election shall only remain in office for the remainder of the tenure of the subsisting Executive Committee of the association.
But the proposal was rejected in a communique dated September 2 and made available to THE WHISTLER by the association’s spokesperson, Akorede Lawal.
The rejection was reached during the NBA’s Annual General Meeting following a resolution among lawyers.
According to the communique, the proposed constitution was rejected in its entirety by a majority voice vote.
The communique partly reads, “The following resolutions were reached:
” By a majority voice vote of members present at the AGM, it was resolved that the proposed amendment of the NBA constitution 2015 (as Amended in 2021) be and is hereby rejected in its totality while the subsisting constitution be retained.”
The AGM also decried the poor funding of the National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council and the Council of Legal Education and called for proper funding of statutory bodies for effectiveness and performance.