#NBAAGC2019: It Will Be Good For Nigeria To Take A Cue And Learn From The NBA — Paul Usoro, SAN

The NBA President has said that it will be good for Nigeria to take a cue and learn from the NBA, when we have a good governance structure in place as a country, as we will have less of the societal problems we are plagued with today like corruption.

The NBA President made this statement at the the press briefing which was held at Aliko & Oyebode Chambers, Ikoyi with the General Secretary Taidi, the 1st Vice President, Mr. Stanley Imo, 2nd Vice President, Dr. Foluke Dada, and the TCCP chairman, Gbenga Oyebode MFR present at the briefing.

According to the NBA President, this year’s program was a combination of three significant activities of the NBA, The AGC, NEC meeting and the AGM. He said that the account presentation was done at the AGM and adopted; the AGM made fresh appointments for new Trustees members as a result of the tenure expiration of the former. He mentioned that names of the trustees who are Olisa Agbakogba, SAN, chairman of the Trustee, Joseph Daudu, SAN, Augustine Alege, SAN, Obafemi Adewale, past General Secretary of NBA, Hajia Fatima Kwaku, Kanu Agabi CON, SAN and their appointment ratified at the AGM. The meeting also acknowledged the immeasurable services of the former trustee members. He also said that the NBA owes a lot of gratitude to them. They are: Alhaji Abdulahi Ibrahim CON, SAN, Chief Thompson Okpoko, SAN, Chief Mrs. Priscilla Akuye, Chief Wole Olanipekun OFR, SAN, Chief Anthony N. SAN, and Alh. Muritala Aminu.

He noted that the NBA constitution was amended; the aim for this was that governance is key and critical to proper structuring of an organization. So the focus was basically to strengthen the governance process of the association.

Speaking about this year’s AGC, he said people adjudged the conference as the best the NBA has ever had and that every AGC will have a feature on the Rule of Law as a very important part. He acknowledged the TCCP chairman, Gbenga Oyebode MFR for making sure the AGC was a huge success, Olumide Apata, the co-chair, for his own outstanding support and other members of the planning committee. He also appreciated the sponsors of the conference. He appreciated Lagos State for their huge support both in cash and kind for the conference. He added that other states that supported the conference financially include Rivers state, AkwaIbom, Ondo, Ekiti. Nasarawa, and Bayelsa State.

Other Corporate organizations also supported in cash and in kind such as Access bank, MTN, Airtel, Dangote group, Zenith bank and 7UP bottling company. Law firms also donated generously to the conference such as Aliko & Oyebode, Paul Usoro & Co, Templars, and a few others. He also appreciated the gentlemen of the press that greatly helped publicize the event as the AGC became a topical issue both in and outside Nigeria as a result of the publicity from the press. He also acknowledged the fact that the voice of NBA, being the conscience of the Nigerian Nation and the voice of the voiceless cannot be heard if we don’t have the press to support them.

Speaking, the planning committee chairman Gbenga Oyebode MFR said that the theme of this year’s conference, ”Facing the Future”, was very well discussed over the conference, particularly on the first day when they had the pleasure of having President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR represented by the Attorney General of the Federation, Hon. Justice Abubarka Malami, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Dr. Tanko Ibrahim, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu represented by the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Femi Hamzat, and the President of the International Bar Association, Horacio Bernardes Neto. He pointed out that the NBA gave him the opportunity to visit Nigeria for the 1st time and the IBA President reiterated how Africa will be a key focus to him during his tenure.

”The conference had a very large turnout with about 12,000 lawyers who registered and attended. It went without any hitches.

“The conference has enough for everyone with discussions around the issues of the future of the profession, sessions on security and human rights, sexual harassment and bullying, inequality, female empowerment with a focus on the SDG 5,” he added.

He also said that the communique will be a walk in progress regarding the actualization of the recommendations made. He concluded his speech by saying: “We are not just talking but will walk the talk.”

During the question and answer session, Nsikak from Daily Independence, said that the Civil Society Organization looks up to the NBA as a critical stakeholder, but the punch from the NBA does not seem heavy enough, why? It was stressed that because we need to reinforce hope to the people especially in the face of too many injustices happening

Replying, the President said that NBA will not stop defending, promoting, upholding the rule of law and not cease to stand for the Nigerian people. We are sworn to continue to highlight those practices that denigrate the rule of law. He assured them that the NBA would also meet relevant persons and authorities to present these topical issues and engage them frequently.

Ayodele from TVC, also asked that more light be shed on the qualification and yard stick of aspiring presidents of the NBA as amended in the constitution. The President responded by saying that the amendment stated that National Officers, especially the President and General Secretary will be persons with proven integrity, administrative skills and experience.

“We need people who will serve and their motivation not based on what to gain from the association, which makes sense because the focus here was on strengthening the governance structure of the association,” he said.

Austin of Newswire also asked that last year’s conference had someone giving a suggestion that the NBA should take the lead in drafting a constitution for the Nigerian people to consider.

Responding, the president said there is a process of amending the constitution but the point was noted and will give the suggestion to those in charge of the process and even collaborate with them as it is something the NBA is interested in.

Mustafa Ogunsakin, Publisher Gavel International, asked how the NBA can help insist on the independence of the judiciary. Responding, he said this is something of great concern because It does appear that the person paying the piper has become over bearing and wanting to call the tune also, this destroys the rule of law and it is not right.

He also noted that the NBA will continue to talk to those in authority regarding this so the people will have faith in the judiciary. We have made this point in the past and will continue to make it.

“Regarding the Independence of funding as it relates to state.  The federal has independence of funding but the state do not, which does not promote the idea of independence, it also prevents access to justice, the situation likened to a case where they are only given funds if the executives “like them”, he said.

He further added that Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, took the matter to court and obtained a judgment but the challenge now is implementing the judgment. He added that the NBA will also engage the states to see how best they can resolve this.

“Senator Abaribe saying the NBA didn’t do anything during the trial of Hon Justice Walter O. GCON, was not true. The NBA released several statements and spoke against the process as it was not right, and recommended that the CJN should never go to the Code of Conduct Tribunal anymore but the NJC.

“An emergency NEC meeting was held that period with chunk of statutory members at the meeting, where they agreed that all lawyers should boycott the court and make a statement to the government. So the NBA was not quiet at all and they took a position on that matter,” he said.

Segun from Business Day, asked what the President is doing to ensure that the financial report is made on an annual basis consistently and also making it public.

He responded and said that the NBA document can only be circulated to members alone and not for everyone, but they may get there someday. They reintroduced the Quarterly management account and distributed to all members including the audited account presented yesterday at the AGM.

He intend to run a very transparent system, which is why PWC was brought in to handle the accounts of the association, he affirmed. “Presently the NBA website is being revamped and the account statement will be uploaded there when it is back up before this quarter is over,” he added.

“This gives confidence to members and also external stakeholders having trust in the NBA. Also when we put our house in order, it gives us the moral justification to criticize the government when they do otherwise.”

Ibe Uwaleke of Advocate News Online asked how the media will partner with the NBA monitoring and review committee to track the progress and be updated on the implementation process.

The NBA President assured that there will be a monthly press conference going forward and the quarterly NEC meetings will now be held monthly with the press fully involved.

Also, Fredrick of CNBC Africa, asked the Process and Industrial Development, P&ID matter that led to the awarding of $ 9 billion against Nigeria. He asked about what the position of the NBA is on this matter, and advice to the government and solutions to be taken.

Responding, Paul Usoro, SAN said that the NBA is yet to see the document on this matter to understand the facts before making the views of the NBA known. The president intends to do that after which they will give a statement on that.

Vera from NTA said that the usual forums like lawyers in the media, use to have a very vibrant session but this year it didn’t feature. She wants to know why.

Replying, the president agreed that she was correct but that this year’s conference they did something novel by having the various sections actively involved in preparing the topics. He assured that the NBA considers all the forums as very significant and intends to engage the various fora very actively within the next couple of weeks.

She added that next year’s conference will be an expansion, not just the sections but the forums will be included.

On behalf of the media, the chairperson of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Lawyers in the Media Forum (LIM), Ms. Theodora Kio-Lawson thanked the president for his continued support to the press and gave the assurance that the press will continue to do what is best for the association.

2nd Vice president of the NBA Dr. Foluke Dada, gave the vote of thanks and appreciated the members of the press for coming to cover the press briefing and gave the assurance that the NBA will continue to move forward and will continue to engage the press as long as topical issues are arising in the society.