Controversy Trails Ex-NBA President’s Nomination Of Himself And Wife As Members Of Body Of Benchers

*As Current President Denies Nominating Himself, Sister, Into the NJC

Controversies continue to surround the representation of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the Body of Benchers and National Judicial Council, due to the nominations of certain persons into the two bodies.

Firstly, it has been alleged that the former NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN nominated himself and his wife Mfon Usoro into the Body of Benchers, before his administration came to an end.

By the way, for the lawyers here, while we #EndSARS, hear this: the former President of @NigBarAssoc, as his parting gift, nominated himself & his lovely wife to represent the Association in the #BodyOfBenchers.

The rot goes well beyond @PoliceNG.

— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 18, 2020

Decrying this, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu in a tweet on Sunday stated that the ongoing #EndSARS protest across the country is not the only problem facing the nation, drawing all Lawyers attention to the nomination.

“By the way, for the lawyers here, while we #EndSARS, hear this: the former President of @NigBarAssoc, as his parting gift, nominated himself & his lovely wife to represent the Association in the #BodyOfBenchers.

“The rot goes well beyond @PoliceNG.”

However, a source disclosed to TheNigeriaLawyer that the current NBA President, Olumide Akpata has told Paul Usoro, SAN of the impossibility of the couple representing the Association in the Body of Benchers, as such, that one of them has to drop.

Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with the ex-NBA President, he disclosed that the statement suggesting that his wife was nominated to the Body of Benchers is lame & ‘idle’ noting that he was very selective in his choice of sending people to the Body, adding that “it wasn’t based on cronyism”.

“So, because she’s Paul’s wife, even though she’s in a position and she can contribute and she has a CV and she’s a Lawyer, not a Lawyer of yesterday and she has the spectrum that she can contribute, so she’s no more qualified”, he said.

He also stated that Mrs. Mfon Usoro credential makes her qualified for the nomination saying “she’s a fit and proper person who can actually be there to provide service”.

Besides, he noted that being the NBA President as at that time, he was qualified to be part of the Body of Benchers adding that he does not have a problem at all, if he wants to be removed.

In another development, it has been alleged that the incumbent NBA President, Olumide Akpata has equally nominated his sister into the National Judicial Council.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Founder, Rules Watch, Dame Carol Ajie which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer, stating that the NBA President should consider the ‘Federal Character Act’ and ensure that the distribution of the five slots reserved for the NBA at NJC is shared across the six geo-political zones.

However, Mr. Olumide Akpata when asked denied the allegation of nominating himself into the NJC.

“This is absolutely false, NBA has not nominated anybody since my inception. There are some members whose tenure are yet to expire and the NJC has informed NBA to renew. I’ve not renewed, I’ve not sent any list to NJC. I’ve not written any letter to NJC appointing anybody including myself”, he added.

Meanwhile, the source further disclosed to TheNigeriaLawyer that Akpata did not nominate himself but rather nominated his sister.

He said “There is a possibility that should anyone retire from the Council in the foreseeable future, the NBA President may step in as a replacement.