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| NBA President Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud (SAN) |
*Elders
Council, Ikeja Senior Lawyers To Submit Report
The on-going leadership crisis in the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA) will soon become a thing of the past, following the quick
intervention of the President of the Bar, Mr AB Mahmoud (SAN), Chairman of the
branch, Prince Dele Oloke, has assured.
Addressing a press conference at the weekend, Oloke said
Mahmoud constituted a committee of ‘Elders
Council, of Ikeja Senior Lawyers’ who are eminent senior lawyers and
responsible members of the Bar, “to wade into the crisis and see that it is resolved
permanently. He is expecting report of the opinion of those elders. Those of us who have been here for sometimes
as lawyers will know some of the eminent lawyers involve in this dialogue.
“I will offer us some names I know you can contact. Some of them are, Mr. Wemimo Ogunde (SAN),
Mr. Philip Jibala (SAN), Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN), Chief Lai Babatunde (SAN) and
Pastor Dele Adesina (SAN).
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| NBA Ikeja Branch Chairman, Dele Oloke And Beckley Abioye Addressing The Press Last Friday |
“I understand that this Elders Committee has, since made its
recommendations to be sent to the National President. But aside from that, the President has always
played ball to ensure that once again, Ikeja remains a big family of lawyers
that we are known for. I believe that,
in a short while, the report of his efforts will be seen by all of us. He believes in the brave new bar. That’s why we are here today; otherwise we
would have been dislodged illegally”, he said.
In response to the Young Lawyers’s Forum demands, over an
alleged attack of its member, Mr. Issa Adedokun by a senior member of the bar,
Mr. Bartholomew Aguegbodo, on December 19, 2016, Oloke said “it was an
altercation between both of them and it is a very small issue which they
allowed to get out of hand. I will not
condemn any of them”.
“They are our members.
Even in the National Assembly, they quarrel, they scale fence. We don’t throw chairs here. What happened between two of them is a family
affairs and by the grace of God, I, as the Chairman of the Ikeja branch of NBA
can assure you, I will settle the quarrel between the two of them. I can assure that neither Issa will go to
court, nor his brother, Aguegbodo, will remain bitter against him forever. The matter will be resolved by the grace of
God and resolved permanently by the Chairman, and very soon, I will report to
this house”, he assured.
The Ikeja branch of Young Lawyers’ Forum has earlier
condemned the attitude of Aguegbodo who they claimed physically assaulted
Adedokun, and demanded a written apology letter be written by Aguegbodo to Mr.
Adedokun within 30 days, for what they described as an act of intimidation of
younger lawyer by the senior.
Besides, the young lawyers also recommended that Adedokun
should commence the process of both criminal and civil proceedings against his
assailant as well as a detailed petition to the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). But Oloke assured that these would not be
necessary as the issue would be resolve amicably in-house.
Other issues that attracted Oloke’s attention during the
press conference, ranged from detailed analysis on the genesis of the crisis in
Ikeja branch of the bar to how Prince Dele Oloke emerged as elected Chairman of
Ikeja branch of NBA, is captured in his address below:
Why Ikeja NBA Branch
Is Called The Tiger
Why Ikeja branch of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is called
the Tiger branch. It is known as a
responsible, robust, hardworking, conscientious and believers in the rule of
the law lawyers in Nigeria.
The lawyers in the branch, after qualifying from university
and Nigerian Law School, are expected to imbibe a culture, etiquette,
comportment, conscience built over the years, brought out of a robust pedigree
of lawyers of the 21st century that will contribute their quotas to
the overall depth of Nigeria through the just enhancement of the rule of law.
We are not tigers because we make noise; we are not tigers
because we practice bar; we are not tigers because we practice law, and in the
best and findest tradition of the bar, all over the world.
Genesis Of Ikeja NBA
Crisis
You press men have been asking, what is the problem of Ikeja
branch with two chairmen? Let me say
without mincing words. The branch
commenced its descent into little crisis within the first quarters of this
year, when the electoral committee that was put in place by the former chairman
of the branch, Mr. Yinka Faroumbi got dismantled and a new one was put in place
headed by Dr. Gbenga Kupegbehinmi of Faculty of Law, University of Lagos
(UNILAG).
The second was headed by Mr. Adebamigbe Omole, a former
Chairman of the branch. Before the election of June 2016, we have always had our
bye-law in Ikeja branch. But prior to
the advent of the election in the first quarters of this year, NBA National
passed into the law amongst ourselves and all the branches throughout the
country, what has now been regarded as 2015 uniform bye-laws for branches of
the Nigerian Bar Association. That uniform bye-law is contained in the third
schedule to the 2015 constitution of the NBA which is our umbrella body.
Amongst the provisions of that uniform bye-law for branches
is the condition for eligibility to hold branch offices. That is contained in the Article 6(3) of the
constitution of NBA as contained in this third schedule. It specifies in a very
clear term, the eligibility and conditions upon which anybody can stand to
contest election in any of the NBA branch.
Unchallenged Uniform
Bye-Law For Branches (2015 NBA Constitution)
The 2015 NBA constitution was passed and adopted and it
became the law prescribed by the association under which our affairs will be
roundly conducted. The election of the
Ikeja NBA branch of NBA in June 2016 was said to have been conducted under this
law. Before that election, it was unanimously agreed by this branch that the
branch election shall be conducted under the uniform byelaw, which is made for
the NBA branches.
By article 6(3) of that law, any person who has held branch
offices twice within five years preceding the year of election is not qualified
to stand for election in NBA branch for any post until five years thereafter.
Before the election of NBA Ikeja in 2016, this law was never
challenged; either in court, nor was it repealed, or modified by any of the 120
branches.When we were to have our election in April this year, the
then chairman of the branch, Yinka Faroumbi told us in this hall that our
election shall be conducted under the uniform bye-law for branches.
At a build-up to our election in 2016, the issue of those
who are qualified to run for elective offices in our branch came to the
fore. The National NBA Election Monitoring
Committee, headed by Chief Dafe Akpedeye (SAN), Warri based lawyer, clearly, in
a written letter, advised electoral committee of NBA Ikeja that in line with
agreement and directive of our national executive committee, and our AGM, the
body should ensure compliance with the law guiding the operation of NBA
branches in Nigeria.
Why June 2016 NBA
Ikeja Branch Was Nullified
Ironically, the electoral committee of the NBA Ikeja and it
leadership, at the branch level, wrote back to the National NBA, the only
registered body under which every branch of NBA operate, and told it that they
cannot take their directive and whatever
they want to do in this branch must hold sway and become sacrosanct. It
was under this atmosphere that our election in June 2016 was conducted and
thereafter a chairman emerged.
As a follow-up to this development, and at a NEC held in
Benin in June 2016, the branch election of Ikeja NBA was nullified by the NEC
of NBA, the umbrella body of lawyers in Nigeria.
The rumours making the mill, particularly on the social
media, the garment of which Nigerians now imbibe, was that the election of the
officers of Ikeja branch of NBA, as far as the office of chairman is concerned,
was nullified by the national NBA and Prince Dele Oloke was imposed on the
branch is mischievous and malicious and all false. This is a very golden
opportunity to tell all that it is far from the truth.
How Prince Dele Oloke
Was Elected As Ikeja NBA Branch
The truth is that after the so called elected chairman’s
election of the Ikeja branch of NBA was nullified at June NEC in Benin, the
NEC, in its wisdom, as the highest authority of the umbrella body of NBA in
Nigeria, ordered a bye-election, to be conducted by Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara, former
Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu branch. It was
this bar election that I participated in, 10 of us got forms for chairman
position; seven of us returned our forms. We were duly screened and at the end
of the exercise, I, Prince Dele Oloke emerged the unopposed Chairman of NBA
branch, Ikeja. The electoral committee wrote its report to the national NBA and
I became the Chairman of this branch.
At the annual general
meeting in Port Harcourt, when chairmen of all branches were to be announced,
Prince Dele Oloke was announced as the new Chairman of the NBA Ikeja branch and
he was introduced by Chief Richard Ahorogho on the advice of Prince Obafemi
Adewale, former AG, Ekiti State who was once a member of this branch before
relocating to Ekiti State.
At the NEC meeting in Port Harcourt, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN)
was in the hall, Pastor Dele Adeshina (SAN) was in the hall, Chief Okpoko (SAN) was in the hall, Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN)
was in the hall, and a host of others from our branch. Other eminent
personalities amongst the persons I mentioned were also there in Port Harcourt,
when the chairman of this branch was inaugurated by the National NBA for the
branch.
NBA Ikeja Branch Not
Independent Of The National NBA In Nigeria
I like to say categorical today that the NBA Ikeja branch, in spite of what the proponents of dichotomy in the branch want, is that that law should not be made to apply to Ikeja amongst other branches because we have our independence. But I say this with respect; Ikeja branch is one out of 120 branches of NBA in Nigeria, no matter its size or status. NBA national is the only body that is known unto law. We cannot operate outside of the law made for lawyers who are members of NBA in Nigeria, out of which we are just a branch.
Contrary to the unfounded rumour, nobody, whether chairman
or whatever position in the branch of NBA, Ikeja can surrender the autonomy of
NBA Ikeja branch to the National NBA body, but the fact from which we cannot
wriggle out is that we are a child of a parent and there are 102 other children
of the same parent and we cannot become a pariah in the committee of branches
of NBA in Nigeria. Otherwise aw have a
choice.
All of us here, as lawyers, do incorporate companies and
trusteeship, we could move ahead and go to the Corporate Affairs Commission
(CAC) and incorporate NBA Ikeja and remove branch from it. By so doing we can make law that suits
us. Our Ogas at Ikaja, who are very big,
our sponsors in the rooms and their various houses, who cannot come out in the
open, can say, “Yes! we are the patrons and trustees”.
If you have two or three SANs who are the sponsors by the
corner, then we will make them our trustees and we will send our dossiers to
the Federal Government, then we will now become what ANAN is to ICAN in
Nigeria. But until we do that, as lawyers, we will be engaging in judicial
rascality, by calling ourselves names that we do not bear. Gentlemen of the press, the branch will be overstepping
its bounds. Those of us who have spent close to 30 years at the Bar cannot be a
party to that.
The Bible is very clear.
When we were young we do all things that younger people do, but when we
come of age we do things that old people do.
In our green days in life we try a lot, but now that was about 35 or 37
years ago. Now we are adults, we must
learn to confirm to the rules and norms in every association to which we
belong.
No Chairman Was Imposed
In The Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja
No chairman was imposed in the Nigeria Bar Association,
Ikeja. The current Chairman is a product
of bye-election that he won unopposed.
Those who are agitating in the branch, believing that the national body
cannot control them, have no power to nullify their election, NEC cannot
control a branch, AGM cannot do so.
NBA National
President Has Waded In Ikeja Branch Crisis
Let me share this with us, our new National President,
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud (SAN) has a vision of a brave new bar. In Ikeja here, Mahmoud met a brave chairman
in the person of Prince Dele Oloke.
Therefore, whatever is our difference in our branch, by the grace of
God, shall always be resolved in-house.
We will not go to police; we will not go to court; because we are
lawyers. There is no school of
judges. Judges are made amongst us
lawyers and therefore we should be able to resolve our grievances in-house.
To my colleagues in the house, I want to say this for future
sake. Whenever members of our branch
have divergent opinions about any issue, whatever relating to office, money or
gratification, or principle of law, I beg of us, let us control our
temperament.
My National President, AB Mahmoud (SAN), who also was former
Attorney General, Kano State, is doing everything possible to resolve the
crisis in Ikeja and he has put in place what he calls Elders Council, of Ikeja
Senior Lawyers, to wade into the crisis and see that it is resolved
permanently. He is expecting report of
the opinion of those elders. Those of us
who have been here for sometimes as lawyers will know some of the eminent
lawyers involve in this dialogue.
I will offer us some names I know you can contact. Some of them are, Mr. Wemimo Ogunde (SAN),
Mr. Philip Jibala (SAN), Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN), Chief Lai Babatunde (SAN) and
Pastor Dele Adesina (SAN). I understand
that this Elders Committee has, since made their recommendations to be sent to
the National President.
But aside from that, the President has always played ball to
ensure that once again, Ikeja remains a big family of lawyers that we are known
for. I believe that, in a short while,
the report of his efforts will be seen by all of us. He believes in the brave new bar. That’s why we are here today; otherwise we
would have been dislodged illegally.
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