*Says Certified Attendance Register Shows They Failed to Meet Mandatory Five-Meeting Threshold Under Bye-Laws
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A financial member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Gwagwalada Branch, Owobu Godday, Esq., has filed a formal demand with the branch’s Electoral Committee (ELCOM) calling for the immediate removal of 11 members from the Interim List of Eligible Voters published for the forthcoming branch election, arguing that a Certified True Copy of the branch attendance register shows that the affected members did not attend the mandatory minimum of five monthly meetings required under the NBA Uniform Bye-Laws for Branches 2025.
The demand, contained in a letter dated May 24, 2026, written on the letterhead of Owobu & Co (Libration Chambers) and addressed to the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of NBA Gwagwalada Branch, provides a detailed breakdown of each challenged member’s attendance record with the most extreme cases being one member who attended zero meetings and two members who attended only one meeting each within the qualifying 12-month period from May 2025 to April 2026.
The challenge comes in the wake of the NBA Branch Elections Appeals Committee (North) ruling that affirmed the supremacy of the physical attendance register for electoral qualification purposes, holding that virtual attendance does not count a decision that has heightened scrutiny of attendance records across branches nationwide.
Owobu’s letter identifies 11 specific members by name, list number, and attendance record, cross-referenced against what he describes as a Certified True Copy of the branch attendance register covering the period from May 2025 to April 2026.
Three members attended only four meetings each — one meeting short of the mandatory five. Akinrinlola Akinjide Dada (listed as number 60) attended the September 2025, October 2025, January 2026, and May 2026 meetings. Sulayman Morenikeji Sulayman (listed as number 171) attended the October 2025, November 2025, January 2026, and February 2026 meetings. Adeniran Gbenga Dada (listed as number 210) attended the February, March, April, and May 2026 meetings. Fagbohunlu Victoria (listed as number 209) attended the October 2025, November 2025, January 2026, and February 2026 meetings.
Three members attended only three meetings each. Asiawu Belgore (listed as number 214) attended the September, October, and November 2025 meetings. Ibilola Rihanat Adebanjo (listed as number 184) attended the January, February, and March 2026 meetings. Roseline Michael (listed as number 206) attended the January, February, and March 2026 meetings.
Two members attended only one meeting each. Clementina Chika Okeke, PhD (listed as number 158) attended only the February 2026 meeting. Temitope Jane Leko (listed as number 132) attended only the February 2026 meeting.
One member attended no meetings at all. Ehihiator Vivian Chinyere (listed as number 205) did not attend any meeting between May 2025 and April 2026, yet appeared on the voters list.
One member was challenged on a different ground. Suleiman Solihu Daddy (listed as number 120) was challenged not for insufficient attendance but for paying his 2025 Bar Practising Fee and Branch Dues out of time, which Owobu argued renders him ineligible under the Bye-Laws.
Owobu grounded his demand in Section 15(1) of the NBA Uniform Bye-Laws for Branches 2025, which prescribes the eligibility requirements for members to vote in branch elections.
The provision, read together with Article 14 of the Bye-Laws which governs candidacy requirements, establishes a mandatory minimum attendance threshold. Under Article 14(2)(b), a member must have attended a minimum of five monthly meetings of the branch within the twelve months prior to the relevant qualification date, with attendance determined exclusively by reference to the Attendance Register of the Branch.
The same attendance requirement, or a variation of it, also applies to voting eligibility under Section 15, meaning that members who have not attended the required number of meetings are not only ineligible to stand as candidates but may also be ineligible to vote.
Owobu stated that his challenge was based on a Certified True Copy of the attendance register the same type of document that the Appeals Committee (North) had identified as the sole valid and recognised record of attendance for electoral qualification purposes.
In a notable opening, Owobu commended the Electoral Committee for its work while simultaneously suggesting that the responsibility of ensuring a clean voters list should not rest on ELCOM alone.
“The task that has been assigned to you is one that is very complex and sensitive, as such, it is my belief that it must not be left to you alone,” Owobu wrote.
The statement implies that ordinary members have a role to play in policing the integrity of the electoral process a position consistent with the Bye-Laws’ provision for members to raise objections to voters lists and candidate qualifications within prescribed windows.
The challenge to the Gwagwalada Branch voters list is the latest manifestation of the intensifying scrutiny of attendance records and electoral eligibility across NBA branches nationwide, driven in large part by the Appeals Committee (North) decision that rejected virtual meeting attendance as a valid basis for electoral qualification.
That decision, delivered on May 16, 2026, held that “only the physical attendance register maintained by the Branch Secretary constitutes the valid and recognised record of attendance for electoral qualification purposes” and that “online attendance lists tendered before the Committee were rejected as unsigned, unauthenticated, and lacking verifiable membership details.”
The Appeals Committee’s ruling has emboldened members across branches to scrutinise voters lists and candidate eligibility with renewed vigour, armed with the knowledge that the physical attendance register is the definitive document and that members who relied on virtual attendance to meet their mandatory thresholds are potentially vulnerable to challenge.
In the case of the Gwagwalada Branch, Owobu’s challenge does not appear to involve virtual attendance disputes. Rather, the petition alleges a more fundamental problem: that members who simply did not attend enough meetings — whether physically or virtually — were nonetheless included on the voters list. The most egregious case is that of Ehihiator Vivian Chinyere, who allegedly attended zero meetings in the qualifying period yet appeared on the Interim List of Eligible Voters.
The challenge raises several questions for the Gwagwalada Branch ELCOM. How were the 11 challenged members placed on the voters list if the attendance register does not support their eligibility? Was the attendance register properly consulted during the compilation of the voters list? Were there alternative attendance records such as virtual attendance logs that ELCOM relied upon but which may now be invalid following the Appeals Committee’s ruling? And is the Certified True Copy of the attendance register referenced by Owobu the same document that ELCOM used in preparing the voters list?
If the challenged members were included on the voters list based on attendance records that differ from the Certified True Copy in Owobu’s possession, a further question arises about the integrity and custody of the attendance register itself and whether the document has been consistently maintained by the Branch Secretary as required by the Bye-Laws.
The ELCOM is now required to review Owobu’s objections and determine whether the 11 challenged members should be removed from the voters list. Under the Bye-Laws, the committee must assess the objections against the official attendance register and other eligibility requirements and make a determination before the election proceeds.
If the challenged members are removed and disagree with the decision, they may appeal to the Branch Elections Appeals Committee. If the ELCOM declines to remove them despite the attendance evidence presented, Owobu may himself have recourse to the appeals process.
The outcome will be closely watched across NBA branches nationwide, as it will test whether the heightened emphasis on strict compliance with attendance requirements reinforced by the Appeals Committee (North) ruling is being applied consistently at the branch level, or whether ELCOMs are exercising discretion in ways that may not survive appellate scrutiny.
Neither the ELCOM of NBA Gwagwalada Branch nor any of the 11 challenged members had publicly responded to the demand as at the time of this report.
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