Sixty two Branch Secretaries of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has issued a strong worded protest letter to the President of the Association against the proposal to remove Branch Secretaries from being a compulsory members of the National Executive Committee of the Association.
In the letter sighted by Legaldeskng, the Secretaries alleged a political plot against them by an unnamed group within the Association.
READ THE FULL LETTER BELOW
Plot 2006, Kukawa Close, Off Makurdi Street, Area 10, Abuja.
08138741185,08061208875,08033900120
18″ October, 2021.
The President,
Nigerian Bar Association, National Secretariat,
NBA House
Plot 1101, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Garki Abuja.
Sir,
LETTER OF PROTEST/ THE FIRM POSITION OF ALL SECRETARIES OF NBA BRANCHES IN RESPECT TO THE PURPORTED PLANS TO REMOVE SECRETARIES FROM BEING NEC MEMBERS IN THE RECENTLY PROPOSED NBA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
The above subject matter refers. We are Secretaries to Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Branches and we write in that capacity.
Mr. President, we must start this piece by acknowledging your laudable and remarkable leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) right from your assumption of office till date. By our assessment you have performed marvelously well, and we urge you sir to continue to keep the light shining.
Having said that sir, we wish to state here that we received with rude shock and displeasure a sudden, but deliberate and collusive move by certain members of the Association to change an age long tradition of the Bar. We mean the recent attempt to remove Branch Secretaries from the membership of National Executive Council (NEC) in the proposed NBA Constitutional amendment. We refer you sir to Article 8 of the said proposed Constitution. Such move to our minds is unguided and unwarranted given the important functions performed by Branch Secretaries.
Sir, you are aware that for decades now Branch Secretaries have always been members of NEC by virtue of their office and we wonder what has so much changed to bring about this recent move. You will agree with us that by the extant NBA Constitution, a Secretary of NBA Branch occupies a very important position if not the very heart of the Branch as far as the running of the Branch is concerned. We have no doubt in our minds that it is because of the important functions of the office that the founding fathers of the Association made Secretaries members of NEC. Secondly sir, we strongly believe that one of the reasons why Branches’ Chairmen and Secretaries were made statutory NEC members is to avoid a situation where a Branch may not be represented at meeting simply because the Chairman is not disposed to attend meeting.
Of course, this protest is not just about us as individuals as some of us have less than two years to stay as Branch Secretaries. Rather it is for the interest of the Association in general and the office of Secretaries in particular. It is important to note that our predecessors in office were NEC members until they left office. Therefore, history will not be fair to us, if it is during our tenures that Secretaries are removed from NEC memberships without any justifiable reason and also against the wishes of Branch members who elected us as Secretaries to represent their interests at NEC.
Mr. President, we wish to remind you sir, that the past and successive NBA leaderships that made Branch Secretaries NEC members, did that for a good course. We are proud to say that for ages now, Secretaries have effectively and efficiently represented their Branches at NEC level and have not been found wanting in any form to warrant this recent untoward move to exclude them from NEC membership.
Sir, we do not know the reason why the present leadership that most of us worked tirelessly to bring into power wants us removed from NEC memberships. And at the same time, we do not want to speculate as to the reason(s) for that. Rather we wish to firmly condemn the recent move to exclude us from being NEC members by person(s) or group of persons. By our calculations sir, the removal of secretaries from NEC membership is tantamount to removal of the Branches itself from being part of NEC.
Sir, if there is a need to reduce NEC membership certainly not Branch secretaries. Permit us to ask sir, what is the relevance of retaining past officials and over 180 co-opted persons as NEC members? As far as we are concerned, we see no wisdom in that other than trying to copy secular politics into Bar politics. Certainly the removal of Branch Secretaries is not to reduce NEC membership. But as lawyers we should always endeavor to do something differently and set a pace for others to follow. Honestly sir, we view this move as a political gang-up against the office of Branch Secretaries. And such does not go down well with us and we will to the extent that law permit resist the move.
If NBA has any modicum of understanding of the very essence of the offices of Branch Secretaries, then its removal from membership of a very important decision making organ of the body should never be contemplated under any guise whatsoever. We submit that it will be highly undemocratic for an association that preaches the rule of law to sacrifice democratically elected branch secretaries and replace them with co-opted members who are mostly handpicked.
We crave your indulgence as talk-and-do President to immediately halt such collusive move deliberately targeted against us by some interest seeking members of the Association for the overall interest of peace and harmony that has always existed between the national body and Branches. This primarily is a call to avert rancor and disharmony that may arise if this issue is not immediately addressed.
Thanks for your understanding and accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.