NBA Former President’s Hand Over Notes: Augustine Alegeh Gives Report On State Of NBA National Secretariat Project Before Leaving Office

Augustine O. Alegeh, SAN,  FCIArb (UK), the 27^th president of the Nigerian Bar Association from, 2014- 2016 has indeed disclosed some facts which seem to be hidden from many members of the association. The legal document was ordinary put together by the former president to provide the current president of the NBA, AB Mahmoud SAN with the necessary ideas, information and insights into the specifics of some of the important interventions undertaken during the Augustine  O.  Alegeh’s tenure, including achievements, insights, challenges and constraints. The document contains notes on key programs of the bar and the extent to which they were executed. On the professionalizing of the Bar, the former president stated that it was a very important component of what he did. Firstly, the partnership agreement with Strataflex Nigeria Limited for the production of adhesive paper stamps for lawyers was one of the major programs embarked upon to strengthen the course. According to him, the stamps are produced in France and the cost of production is dependent on dollar price with the N4000 paid by Lawyers going straight to the Company, noting also that they advanced the Company a bridge loan of N12m when they had challenges accessing Forex due to CBN policy changes. On public interest programmes, the former president intimated the current administration of his role played in justice sector reforms. He highlighted the role played by the NBA in drafting Key justice sector bills such as the Police Act Amendment Bill, the Prisons Act Amendment Bill and the Anti- Torture Bill. The president also stated that they publicly presented the NBA Pro-bono Declaration for the legal profession which restated the commitment of the NBA to achieving effective legal representation for the poor. The president also spoke about the introduction of the NBA Dinner in honour of retiring Justices of the Supreme Court, stressing that it should be continued as it enhances the Bar – Bench Relationship. Speaking on the NBA National Secretariat Project, Abuja, it was stated that President Okey Wali, SAN who awarded the contract to Schuams Nigeria Limited at a contract price of N2.5Billion, commenced it. However, the project could not be completed during his tenure for three main reasons: One, the Land had documentation problems with FCDA. According to him, the allocation to the person who sold to NBA had been revoked and he had to obtain a fresh allocation to NBA; the Architectural drawings had to be amended to meet FCD standards and thirdly, the funds paid to the Contractor were not released to the Contractor by Zenith Bank who provided him with an APG. Below reads an excerpt from the note: “D.D Azura of Yola Branch is handling the processing of the C of O. He has served on the Building Committee for Four years. He is very committed and dedicated and has put in so much effort but the C of O is yet to be released to NBA. I advise that you contact him to obtain an update. We have applied for the Road leading to the Complex to be named after NBA. Mirabel has the details on that application. The Architect who provided the drawings rejected by AGIS was asking for payment for the amendments and for additional payments for consultancy and Project supervision. We reviewed the contract and determined that she was not entitled to payment for making her architectural plans meet the requirements of the Approving Authority and that she had received over 60% of the consultancy and project supervision fees whereas the project was still at 18% completion. We refused to make any payment and she decided to withdraw her services. She threatened to sue but we received no writ from her. We requested the main contractor to provide an architect as AGIS required a Supervising Architect for such a project and the former Architect had notified AGIS of her withdrawal from site with the expectation that AGIS would close down the site. We side stepped her plans and sent in the name of the new Architect. To deal with the Zenith Bank issue we decided to alter the transaction dynamics and instead of an APG we requested the Contractor to provide a post-dated cheque in the amount of any payments made by NBA with the understanding that if there was failure of performance NBA would present the cheque and could pursue criminal charges if the cheque was not honoured. This kept the Contractor in check, as he was not willing to face NBA in Court. We also agreed to be making lump sum payments in advance for set milestones of work done. Once the milestones were met we agreed new milestones and made payment to the Contractor after receiving his postdated cheque. It was mutually agreed that upon completion of the Building Structure and Roof we would then cost work done and compared with payments made to determine credit and debit positions. It was with this structure that we were able to complete the Building Structure and roof. The Contractor at this stage requested a variation of contract from N2.5B to about N 3.2B. The Contractor was also insisting on collecting payments for sub contract works at rates we considered unreasonable. We could not arrive at a consensus and determined the contract subject to the Contractor providing “Attendance and Service” for sub-contractors. The Contractor initially agreed but later reneged and declined to provide the service. However, we used some of his scaffolding materials till completion of the project. The reconciliation of accounts showed the Contractor owed NBA but the Contractor kept contesting the reconciled accounts and the matter was not resolved during our tenure. We thereafter, contracted BUILDING PRACTICE, a Project Management outfit that provided both architectural and engineering services. With their aid we were able to complete the Project with the sum of N1.7B, which is far below the original contract price of N2.5B, and the reviewed variation contract sum proposed by the Contractor of N3.2B. BP identified subcontractors and NBA paid directly to them thereby avoiding the markup that the main Contractor would have charged. BP would provide you with an analysis of savings made for NBA. We paid approximately N1.4B out of the amount and the amount owed Contractors was just below N300M. The Building, which was commissioned by HE Osinbanjo, SAN, VP FRN on 12^th August, 2016 is currently valued conservatively at N5B. We were able to complete, commission and move into the Building because was applied all funds available from all sources into the Project. The donation of N300M by RVSG for AGC 2016 was essentially spent on this building to the knowledge and with the consent of RVSG.  RVSG also paid the sum of N150M as consideration for christening the 5^th Floor as RIVERS FLOOR. This sum was expended on the Building. The Agreement reached was that RVSG would name the offices on that floor after its indigenes. We are still awaiting the list. We received promises from Bauchi and Plateau States to jointly pay the sum of N150M for a floor to be named after the two sister states. I advise that you contact the State Governors to fulfill their promises. BP will provide you with the details of all payments made and outstanding payments. The Auditor captured the work done on the NBA Secretariat in the Treasurer’s Report and made an entry of a Budget surplus. It is imperative that you discuss this issue with him at your earliest convenience. Please note that we planned to name the Auditorium after FRA Williams and had requested the family to donate N250M towards this. The family notified us that there is a family dispute being settled at the Supreme Court and that they would only be able to meet our request after the matter is resolved. We made alternative contacts but did not receive any payment. This singular payment would almost pay off outstanding financial obligations in respect of the Building. We also sent out letters for payment of N10m for the Building Honours Roll. We received payments from OCJ, JB, Tony Idigbe, SAN and Dewunmi Ogunsanya, SAN. We have several promises, which would materialize if followed up. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Okey Wali, SAN and Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN are names I had decided to include on the Honours Roll. Olisa purchased the Land, Okey Started the project and Lateef, I believe made a large donation at the fundraiser organized by Okey [I made a mental note to double check this fact]  For the avoidance of doubt, if we had received more payments we would have paid up outstanding obligations for the Building.” The president also gave a report of the NBA House, Victoria Island, Lagos   new building, old building and the NBA old secretariat house, Garki, Abuja. Other areas touched by the former president include: NBA election petition and other matters subject of litigation, JUSUN, partnership with professional bodies, finances, etc. The former president also spoke about the NBA bar card, insurance for NBA members/partnership with Leadway Assurance,  launching of the senior lawyers sponsorship programme , membership of the national judicial council, LPDC and pending disciplinary matters, human rights national action plan on human rights 2014- 2019, NBA- Nigerian army cooperation, Nigeria army- islamic movement of Nigeria conflict amongst others. By Past Administration (Augustine O. Alegeh, SAN) Do no copy with TheNigerialawyer Authorization]]>