Impudent Violation of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association and other Principles of Law by the ECNBA and the Graveyard Silence of Members of the Bar – MacJohnson Odey
Members of the Nigerian Bar Association woke up yesterday, 23rd July, 2018 to read various publications that 3 members of the NBA from the Abuja Branch to wit: ANNE AGI, ONYEKA OBIAJULU & E. M. D UMUKORO of the Abuja Branch who were previously cleared to contest for various offices in the forthcoming NBA National elections have been disqualified for non-compliance with Section 8(3)(a) of the NBA Constitution.
The said section provides as follows:
“Qualifications to hold a National Office.
A member of the Association shall be qualified to hold a National Office if:
(a) He/She is a full member of the Association and has paid, as at the date of his/her nomination, his/her practicing fees and Branch Dues, as and when due, for three (3) consecutive years inclusive of the year of election;…”.
In the wake of the disqualification, all the affected candidates have sent in their appeals to the Committee and made statements pointing out that they are not in violation of the said section as they paid their practicing fees and branch dues for 2016-2018 as and when due into the recognised accounts. They have their tellers/receipts to prove this. The ECNBA is yet to say a word in response.
Reading through the notice of disqualification sent to the affected candidates and their responses, it is clear that the ECNBA is in violation of several sections of the NBA Constitution and basic principles of law. This is ironic as the ECNBA is a creation of the NBA Constitution and disqualified the candidates based on the NBA Constitution it is itself flouting.
Firstly, from the available information, the ECNBA in its disqualification letter to the candidates alleged that the decision to review the clearance of the affected candidates which led to their subsequent disqualification was based on a petition written against them by some persons. Interestingly, the ECNBA failed to accede to the most basic principle of law by according the contestants the privilege of seeing the said Petition. So the contestants have been adjudged without the privilege of seeing and responding to the petition against them. The Petitioner is apparently faceless.
Secondly, the ECNBA based its disqualification on the failure of the candidates to comply with Section 8(3)(a) of the NBA Constitution which provides for payments of branch dues and practice fees as and when due. The 3 candidates have all produced evidence of payment of their branch dues and practice fees for the 3 years paid as and when due into recognised branch accounts, so how are they in contravention of the said Section?
Thirdly, all 3 candidates upon receipt of their notices of disqualification on the 7th day of July, 2018, in compliance with 2.7(a) above, sent in their appeals on the 9th day of July, 2018, within the 7 day period. The ECNBA has not responded to their appeals. The ECNBA upon receipt of these appeals had until Monday the 23rd day of July, 2018 (within 14 days from the 9th of July) to take a decision thereon and respond accordingly, yet it failed to do so thus committing a constitutional infraction.
Section 2.7(a) deals with APPEALS BY DISQUALIFIED CANDIDATES. The Section provides: “(a) A candidate dissatisfied with the decision of the Electoral Officer or an
Assistant Electoral Officer in respect of his nomination, may within
seven days of the communication of the decision, appeal against the decision to the ECNBA.
(b) The ECNBA shall upon receipt of an appeal made by a candidate, take a
decision thereon within fourteen (14) days thereof”.
The 14 days timeline given to the ECNBA by Section 2.1 (f) of the Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution 2015 to respond to these appeals having expired yesterday and the Committee having failed to respond is a clear violation of Section 2.7 of the 2nd Schedule of the NBA constitution.
Thirdly, the ECNBA is in contravention of Section 2.1(f) of the NBA Constitution. The said 2.1(f) deals with the duties of the
Electoral Committee and it provides: “The Electoral Committee shall upon consideration of the nominations it receives determine the qualifications of the candidate concerned not later than ONE MONTH BEFORE the election”. The ECNBA in compliance with the above provision, had earlier screened and cleared the candidates in its screening notice of 13th June, 2018. In doing so, the Committee had rightly determined their qualification to run the NBA National elections not later than one month before the election. Thus having cleared them to run on the 13th of June, 2018, the Committee cannot therefore turn around and ‘unclear’ or disqualify them; it is not so empowered anywhere in the Constitution. Even if it could reverse itself, by Section 2.1 (f) cited above, it is bound to do so NO LATER than ONE MONTH before the election. The Committee communicated her subsequent disqualification to the candidates via a letter dated and delivered on the 7th day of July, 2018. That is exactly 23 days before the election and later than one month before the election as prescribed by the NBA Constitution. The ECNBA is therefore in breach of Section 2.1(f) of the NBA Constitution 2015.
Fourthly, one is curious as to why it is an Electoral Committee that is complaining about payment of branch dues by candidates when the branch in compliance with the request of the same Electoral Committee issued letters of good standing to the affected candidates attesting to the fact that they have indeed paid their branch dues for at least 3 years as and when due. If anybody should complain about her receipt or lack of receipt of or payment of branch dues by a member, it should be the branch herself, not an Electoral Committee who knows nothing about the branch and indeed whose membership has no member of the Abuja Branch on board. What then was the purpose of asking branches to send in letters of good standing if the ECNBA will ignore them and decide by itself who and who are not in good standing with their branches? The ECNBA does not have such powers and in choosing to ascribe these powers to itself, it is in grave violation of Section 4 of the Uniform Bye-laws for Branches of the NBA Constitution which states that only a branch Chairman can comment on and issue a letter of good standing for a member. The said Section 4 provides:
”4. GOOD STANDING
A member is in good standing and, if he so desires, shall be entitled to a certification of that status signed by the Chairman of the Branch if: (1) In addition to his Bar Practicing Fees, he has paid his annual dues and all other financial obligations to the Branch as and when due for
at least the immediate preceding three years……’
With all the above constitutional infractions, one is worried as to whether the ECNBA is relying on the NBA Constitution of 2015 or some other document or perhaps they are receiving instructions from someone else. One is constrained to ask these questions as the letters of the sections referred to above are very clear and easy to understand.
The graveyard silence of the ECNBA on this matter is a source of serious concern. It is really sad that the Constitution of the NBA is being flagrantly disregarded by men of such high repute and with impunity and not a word is being said by senior members of the Bar. Or is this a case of the voice of Jacob but the hand of Esau? Already rumours are flying around that the said candidates are being sacrificed to make the disqualification of Mazi Afam Osigwe look legitimate. Other accounts say they are being punished for paying into an account that was hijacked by a rebel group of the NBA abuja branch.
The Professor Yadudu led Electoral Committee is many too many mistakes for comfort. We have barely recovered from the ‘Chamsgate’ and now this. Are they really capable of steering is through this electoral process? The Committee is made up of Professors, Senior Advocates and Senior lawyers, yet we have been let down. To say we are disappointed in this Committee is an understatement.
Whatever the case may be, the rape of the NBA Constitution by lawyers in the ECNBA should not be allowed to stand. Candidates previously cleared to run should be allowed to run.
BY: MACJOHNSON ODEY II is a Technology Lawyer, Access2Justice Innovator, HyperGrowth Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder mylawyer.ng
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