[*Arthur Obi Okafor SAN, Withdraws from Race, Proposes a Post Election Audit
*Mobolaji Ojibara, Ph.D FHNR Accepts Outcome of Results, Urges Supporters to Support incoming Executive
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and one of the NBA Presidential candidates of the just concluded NBA National Election, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN, has just emerged as the President Elect of the NBA Presidential Election 2018.
Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, disclosed this on Monday while announcing the result of the election held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Mr. Usoro SAN defeated his closest counterpart with a total of 86 votes out of the number of votes cast as the election. The results which were published in the early hours of today, the 20th of August, 2018 as promised by the Electoral Committee had Mr. Arthur Obi Okafor SAN closely following Mr. Usoro SAN with a total of 4423, while Prof. Ernest Ojukwu had a total of 3313 votes against Mr. Usoro with 4509 votes.
See below a breakdown of the results:
Positions | Candidates | Vote Cast | Winner |
Presidency | Paul Usoro | 4509 | Winner |
Presidency | Arthur Obi Okafor | 4423 | |
Presidency | Ernest Ojukwu | 3313 | |
First Vice President
| MO Stanley Chidozie | 6188 | Winner |
Second Vice President
| Dada Foluke Olayemi | 4242 | Winner |
Second Vice President
| Aikpoko-Marrins | 2819 | |
Second Vice President
| Akande Oludare | 465 | |
Second Vice President
| Oji Benedict Nwosa | 1634 | |
Third Vice President
| Igba Theophilus Terhile | 6020 | Winner |
General Secretary | 2237 | ||
General Secretary
| Balogun Rafiu Oyeyemi | 1630 | |
General Secretary
| Taidi Jonathan Gunu | 3574 | Winner |
General Secretary
| Mobolaji Ojibara Idris | 1993 | |
First Assistant Secretary
| Ewenode William Onoriode | 4724 | Winner |
First Assistant Secretary
| Ogunrinde Yusuf Olatunji | 3545 | |
Second Assistant Secretary
| Naandeti Anas | 1367 | |
Second Assistant Secretary
| Obasi Chinyere Gladys | 7142 | Winner |
Treasurer
| Agada Mercy Ijato | 3006 | |
Treasurer
| Chukwuma-Okafor Obianuju Mary | 1959 | |
Treasurer
| Olagbegi-Oloba Victoria Banke | 4204 | Winner |
Welfare Secretary
| Anyia Sabastine Ubua | 3313 | |
Welfare Secretary
| Usman Joshua Enemali | 5474 | Winner |
Financial Secretary
| Elias Emeka Anosike | 5758 | Winner |
Financial Secretary
| Dorcas Nnennaya Ngwu
| 2806 | |
Assistant Financial Secretary
| Marian Nneka Jones
| 2454 | |
Assistant Financial Secretary
| Iniobong Irene Pepple
| 4294 | Winner |
Assistant Financial Secretary
| Ogoke Samuel Chikaodinaka
| 1188 | |
Assistant Financial Secretary
| Iloghalu Obiora Bede Izuazi
| 936 | |
Publicity Secretary
| Williams Ekpo Anwan
| 3322 | |
Publicity Secretary
| Olukunle Edun
| 5433 | Winner |
1st Assistant Secretary | Yusuff Olatunji Ogunrinde | 3545 | |
1st Assistant Secretary | Ewenode Onoriode Williams
| 4724 | Winner |
2nd Assistant Secretary
| Obasi Gladys Chinyere | 1367 | |
2nd Assistant Secretary
| Anas Naandeti | 7142 | Winner |
Assistant Publicity Secretary
| Akorede Habeeb Lawal
| 7310 | Winner |
Legal Adviser
| Eze Nnamdi Innocent | 4368 | Winner |
Legal Adviser | Farounbi Olayinka Oyeniyi | 4340 |
Other results show MO Stanley Chidozie emerging unopposed as the 1st Vice president with 6188 votes as Taidi Jonathan Gunu was elected the General Secretary of the Bar with a total of 3574 votes.
Dada Foluke Olayemi was elected as 2nd Vice President, Igba Theophilus Terhile as 3rd Vice President, Ewenode William Onoriode as 1st Assistant Secretary, People Iniobong Irene as the Assistant Financial Secretary, Obasi Chinyere Gladys as 2nd Assistant Secretary, Olagbegi-Oloba Victoria Banke as Treasurer, Usman Joshua Enemali as Welfare Secretary, and Eze Nnamdi Innocent as the Bar Legal Adviser.
The election had only 16115 number of voter with 3631 yet to vote. The outcome of the results had led to complaints by some lawyers who believe that that the publication of the results was premature, as many lawyers have been disenfranchised. According to some, members had a hard time generating the passwords for voting; therefore the disenfranchisement was no fault of theirs.
In the midst of this, some candidates such as Mobolaji Ojibara, Ph.D FHNR have accepted the outcome of the election, whilst wishing the bar well. According to him, he wants to appeal to his supporters to consider the overall interest of the Bar by cooperating with the incoming executive.
This, however, is not the reaction of other candidates such as Arthur Obi Okafor SAN who withdrew from the race and rejected the expected outcome of the results even before they were published. In a press statement released in the early hours of today, the 20th day of August, 2018, the learned silk rejected the results claiming that inexplicable and strange surges of votes in favour of Paul Usoro SAN and the glaring incidences of hijacked votes make it clear the result of the election cannot stand. He therefore proposed a participatory post election audit of International Standard.
Other victorious candidates like Chinyere Obasi Gladyz and Elias Emeka Anosike Esq have expressed their gratitude to their teeming supporters for their support and resilience shown before and at the poll, promising to give in their best to the actualization of the promises made on the campaign-days.
The outgoing President of the association, Mr Abubakar Mahmoud, commended the electoral committee for the conduct of the election.
Mr Mahmoud, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the election was the fairest exercise held so far.
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