NBA 2018 Elections: NBA Must Be Careful To Conduct Elections Free From Rancor—JS Okutepa, SAN

Former Lead Prosecutor of the Nigerian Bar Association at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, JS Okutepa SAN, has warned that NBA as a professional Association of noble men and women must be careful not to conduct its elections in circumstances that will create doubts in the minds of the right thinking members of the society. The Senior lawyer made this statement on Friday following a media report that the ICT Partner engaged by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to anchor the forthcoming general elections is one of the leading presidential candidate’s Co-Director, Paul Usoro, SAN. According to the news that one of the candidates in the forthcoming elections has connections with persons or group of persons providing ICT services in the elections must not be treated with levity and Nigerian style. “The news making round is that one of the candidates in the elections led the service provider to NBA in 2010 and introduced them to NBA. This should worry any right thinking members of the Bar. As if that is not enough this candidate is sitting on the same Board of Access Bank Plc with the Chairman of ICT company that is to conduct the 2018 NBA elections. Speaking further he said that justice is rooted in confidence. The reason Grace Infotech Ltd (Law Pavilion) was not selected as information had it is because of the pending litigation in respect of the election it conducted for NBA in 2016. Can NBA afford another litigation arising from the 2018 elections? He asked. He further raised certain questions which need to be considered to ensure that no mistake is made for the 2018 coming election. Why did ECNBA engage Charms Plc to conduct the 2018 elections for NBA when it is clear that one of the candidates in the presidential race is sitting on the board of Access Bank Plc with the Chairman of the company that is to provide the ICT services in the elections? How fair can that be? Why do we blame politicians when as professional Association we are not behaving better? “ It is high time NBA and it’s leadership engender the confidence of Nigerians by avoiding act or omission that tends to suggest that NBA has an agenda that seems to be less than transparent,” stated. He therefore urged Bar leaders to do something to save NBA from the embarrassment this will cause the profession.]]>