Aspirants in the Ikeja election has petitioned the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olumide Akpata over Disregard for the Constitution of the NBA By the Ikeja Branch Caretaker Committee.
However, wish to dissociate themselves from the proposed elections slated for Tuesday, the 29″ day of September, 2020, on the following grounds;

The Caretaker Committee as presently constituted, has shown to be inclined to acting without complying with the laws of our association.
2. The Caretaker committee has not subjected itself to constituted authority by disregarding lawful directives from the National Body.
3. The resignation of Mr. Monday Ubani from the committee has stripped the committee of the requisite legitimacy to run the affairs of the Branch as Article 11 of the UBL makes clear, the composition of the Caretaker Committee. Any act undertaken by the Committee as presently constituted will be tainted with illegality.

This is contained In a Petition,signed by the Aspirants, Titilayo Osagie, Bamidele Ojuyenum,Abdulhameed Ahmeed, Jimoh Mohammed, Daniel Enakadia [Sgd], Joseph Olumudi (Sgd) and Basil Owolabi,which was sighted by LegaldeskNG

The Petition reads in part

“We, the undersigned aspirants to various elective offices in the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, are compelled by the disrespect for the constitution of the association by the Caretaker Committee of the NBA lkeja Branch, to write this petition.

“Sir, recall that on the 23th of June 2020, the erstwhile Electoral Committee of the Branch was dissolved and a three (3) man Caretaker Committee comprising former chairmen of the Branch, was set up with a mandate to pilot the affairs of the Branch, including conducting elections to fill the vacuum created by the effluxion of the tenure of the last Branch Executive Members. It is pertinent to observe here that the tenure of the Caretaker Committee would lapse after three months beginning from the 30″ of June, 2020.

“Sir, upon assumption of office, it is disheartening that rather than focus on the mandate of the committee, some members of the Caretaker Committee started engaging in a game of intrigues suggesting that they had a preconceived agenda they were bent on executing.

“Sir, Article 17 of the UBL that regulates the procedure for the conduct of elections was jettisoned by the Caretaker Committee and the timelines stipulated by the law were never adhered to. The committee went on a frolic of its own, picking and choosing which of the provisions of the NBA UBL to obey or disobey. Curiously, the committee went ahead to release the final voters list without releasing the list of the candidates for the election. To further compound matters, the committee went on to announce a date for the election which is less than the prescribed thirty days stipulated by the UBL In the midst of these anomalies, it was not surprising that a member of the committee, Mr Monday Ubani resigned his membership of the committee. Upon the resignation of Mr Ubani, the committee went ahead to release a communique announcing elections into all other offices but excluding the chairmanship candidates from participating in the election. We consider all these unlawful actions of the committee as bearing no positive fruits save to further plunge the already fragile soul of Ikeja Branch of NBA into deep crisis.

“In view of the forgoing, we the undersigned aspirants wish to dissociate ourselves from the proposed elections slated for Tuesday, the 29″ day of September, 2020, on the following grounds;

The Caretaker Committee as presently constituted, has shown to be inclined to acting without complying with the laws of our association.
2. The Caretaker committee has not subjected itself to constituted authority by disregarding lawful directives from the National Body.
3. The resignation of Mr. Monday Ubani from the committee has stripped the committee of the requisite legitimacy to run the affairs of the Branch as Article 11 of the UBL makes clear, the composition of the Caretaker Committee. Any act undertaken by the Committee as presently constituted will be tainted with illegality.

“In view of the forgoing, we hereby dissociate ourselves from the continued illegality being perpetuated by the Caretaker Committee, with particular reference to the attempt to conduct election in Ikeja Branch under these spurious circumstances with its attendant capacity to birth series of legal battles.

“We therefore urge you Sir, to disband the Committee and replace same with persons who have respect and deference to the laws of the association and regard for hierarchy of authority of the association”