NBA: Suspended Secretary Fails To Secure Court Injunction Against Association

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declined to grant an exparte motion filed by the suspended General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Joyce Oduah, which sought an interim order retaining her position pending the determination of her case against the NBA National Executive Committee.

The suspension of Oduah has brought to the public domain the disagreement within the administration of the outgoing NBA president, Olumide Akpata.

Recall that the NBA NEC had on August 15 suspended Oduah over allegations of gross misconduct allegedly exhibited by the secretary in the last two years of Akpata’s administration.

The NEC also claimed that she refused to obey the directive of the NBA president regarding issues bordering on the proposed Constitutional Amendment of the NBA.

Giving her own account, Oduah alleged that she refused to bow to Akpata’s command leadership style and also took a stand against issuance of the Proposed Amendment to members, which, according to her, did not meet the sixty (60) days requirement of the Constitution.

Subsequently, she approached the Abuja court to determine whether or not having regards to the provisions of Sections 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Sections 11(9), 20 and 21 of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association, 2015 (as amended in 2021) and Sections 239, 242 and 288 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, the NEC have the powers to suspend her from the office of the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association.

In addition to the application, her lawyer, Murtala Abdul-Rasheed, SAN prayed Justice A. R. Mohammed for an interim injunction against the NEC and its resolutions against her but was refused.

The judge rather adjourned the case to August 23 for hearing, directing her to notify all the defendants in the case.