NBA 2018 Elections: Mid-West Bar Forum Adopts Obi Okafor (SAN) for President
Ahead of the July 2018 elections of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to elect new national officers, the Mid-West Bar Forum, on Saturday at the NBA Asaba Branch Secretariat in Asaba, Delta State, adopted Chief Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN, as their candidate for the office of President.
This resolution was issued by the 14 Chairmen of NBA branches of the Forum and signed by the MWBF, Chief Chike Onyemenam (SAN), was witnessed by Newswire Law and Events Magazine’s correspondent in Asaba.
It will be recalled that on Saturday February 3, 2018, the Eastern Bar Forum, EBF, which encompasses all branches of the NBA in Eastern Nigeria, in their resolution adopted Chief Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN, as its candidate for the office of President of the NBA in the July 2018 elections.
The adoption exercise was witnessed by the EBF Chairman, Chief Arthur Elvis Chukwu; Publicity Secretary of EBF, Mr. George Fortune Igbikikuno; former Ilorin Bar Chairman, Dr. Mobolaji Ojibara; Mr. Adetunji Osho, who led a very strong delegation from the Akure Bar to the event, and a host of others.
The National Publicity Secretary of NBA, John Austin Unachukwu who is also the of EBF extraction was present at the event.
After the adoption exercise, which was subsequently approved by the Forum’s Screening Committee and all the members of the Governing Council of the association, including branch chairmen and secretaries of all MWBF branches, the Mid-West Bar Forum also decided to put her weight behind Mr. Kunle Edun by adopting him as its sole candidate for the office of National Publicity Secretary in the coming NBA 2018 elections.
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Habeeb Lawal who is the current Publicity Secretary of the Asaba Bar was also adopted as their sole candidate for the position of Assistant National Publicity Secretary.
Former NBA Warri Branch Chairman, John Aikpokpo Martins was also adopted by the Forum for the office of the 2nd Vice President of the NBA.
All members of the branches in both Edo and Delta States pledged to mobilize support for the adopted candidates.
In its age long tradition, the EBF whose turn it is to produce the next President of the NBA adopts and endorses candidates to fly its flag in NBA elections and subsequently lobby other regional fora including the Arewa Lawyers Forum (ALF), the Egbe Amofin and Mid-West Bar Forum to accept and vote its candidates in the elections. The EBF is comprised of lawyers from the nine states that made up the old Eastern Region comprising of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebony and Abia States, Rivers, Cross-River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States.
The immediate past Chairman of Akure Bar, Adetunji Osho, who witnessed the quarterly meeting of the MWBF, and the adoption of Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN), said, “Egbe (as a body) has not taken its stand on adoption. But on behalf of the Akure NBA Branch and the majority of lawyers in Ondo State, we are supporting Obi Okafor because we have seen in him a leader who can take the Bar to the next level.”
“He consults widely before taken decisions even in his campaign strategies. We also believe that, being a core legal practitioner, who is in full practice, he would also be alive to the needs, yearnings and responsibilities of lawyers in Nigeria,” Osho said.
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The Chairman of the EBF Governing Council, Arthur Elvis Chukwu, who also witnessed the Mid-West Bar Forum adoption exercise, said, “I am happy because the good thing we saw in this candidate before adopting him is not seen only by the EBF, other fora are seeing the same. And of course, he is going to be the President of the entire NBA not just the EBF. So it is not enough that the EBF has adopted him, it is also good for other fora in NBA to adopt him. So, I am happy that the MWBF has taken that giant step.”
Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN) has been a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of NBA since 2012. He is a Member of the NBA Legal Profession Regulation Review Committee which was inaugurated by the President of Nigerian Bar Association to bring about better regulation for the profession.
Chief Okafor has been immensely prominent in the news within the Association with his participation in numerous NBA events in branches nationwide. The brilliant and successful hosting of the last Criminal Justice Reform Conference was a good testimonial, a move many consider as a form of political awareness in preparation for the 2018 polls. His Football Tournament, (Arthur Obi Okafor EBF Unity Cup) is a major social event within the Association in the last two and half years.
From the EBF, as well as branches of the Nigerian Bar Association across the nation, Chief Okafor, SAN is considered as eminently qualified and prepared to contest the election.
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