The Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) says it would not advise the cancellation of the polls recently held by the body following a petition by a presidential candidate in the election Dele Adesina.
Mr Adesina (SAN) had in a petition dated August 2 to the BoT said the polls held electronically in July was flawed.
Adesina alleged, among others, that the appointment of the service provider for the NBA 2020 election was done solely by the NBA president and that the voter list was not released by ECNBA until five hours to the election, in violation of the NBA Constitution.
However, in a reply dated August 19 and signed by its chairman Olisa Agbakoba, the NBA BoT urged Adesina to overlook the failings of the poll in the spirit of cohesion of the body of lawyers.
“The Trustees have given careful consideration and deeply reflected on your petition and all the responses, in particular that of ECNBA (Election Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association),” the BoT said.
“We note that the elections were not perfect. We reviewed your petition and note that it raises serious issues. Nonetheless, our advice will be the overall interest of the Bar should be paramount on the mind of every Nigerian lawyer and to that extent, we urge that all lawyers and no less the candidates be mindful of the need to promote a cohesive, united and strong Bar.
“We regret that we are unable to advise that the election should be cancelled in the overall interest of the Bar.”
The trustees however said they “strongly recommend that a major transformation of our electoral process and framework must be undertaken.”
A non-SAN Olumide Akpata won the election with over 50 percent of the total votes cast.
Babatunde Ajibade came second while Adesina came third.
