Some NBA Porthacourt Exco Members Threaten To Resist Attempt By Chair To Withdraw Alleged Covid-19 Donated Funds

Some members of the Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, have cautioned the Chairman of the Branch not to use funds donated to the Branch against Covid-19.

The letter is titled “MONIES DONATED BY WELL-MEANING MEMBERS OF THE BRANCH AND DISBURSEMENT TO THE EXPECTED BENEFICIARIES” and has the following persons as signatories: C. B. Ekeh, Esq. (Vice-Chairman), Chinwe Omodu, Esq. (Social Secretary), K. C. Oru, Esq. (Provost) and Bright Umeh, Esq (Assistant Secretary), made available to TheNigerialawyer(TNL).

The aggrieved Elected Officers accused the Chairman of singlehandedly making decisions without consulting other Exco members. They therefore threaten to resist any attempt by the Chairman to withdraw any money from the treasury of the Branch

The letter reads:

“1. As applicable to other Branches, and in line with the provisions of the NBA Uniform Bye Laws, it is the responsibility of the Elected Officers to oversee the affairs of the Branch. In fact, the expanded EXCO which comprises of Elected Officers, statutory members and cooped is the first level decision making organ of every Branch of the NBA before the General Assembly ultimately. No single individual (including but not limited to a Branch Chairman) under whatever guise is clothed with any power to singlehandedly take a decision and implement same on behalf of the Branch without recourse to the other Elected Officers/Exco and the General Assembly.

“2. We state EXPRESSLY that at no time did the EXCO and/or the General Assembly decide on what palliative measures to put in place to ameliorate the hardship occasioned by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the young lawyers in our Branch and the generality of members and the persons to reach out to for assistance.

“3. Without recourse to the Elected Officers or EXCO, you reached out to some members of the Branch for assistance and from the available record at our disposal, some well-meaning members of our Branch have made donations to the Branch to help cushion the effect of the pandemic on young lawyers and members of the Branch.

“4. You have also without regard to the Elected Officers and EXCO constituted a committee for the disbursement of the donated funds without the input of the Elected Officers despite very critical issues raised against the composition of the committee and disbursement of the funds.

“5. From available records, the Committee that you constituted for the disbursement of the funds is about to commence the disbursement of the funds, yet neither the names of the donors nor the amounts donated so far, have been disclosed to the Elected Officers/EXCO and the General Assembly till date.

“6. Even though it may be argued that the donors wish to remain anonymous, it does not preclude the Elected Officers and EXCO from knowing who the donors are and the amount realized for proper records and accountability/transparency

“7. The Vice Chairman advised that we should hold an emergency meeting to discuss the palliative measures from the Branch to the Members, resolve all the issues relating to the donations, and the disbursement of the donated funds, but for reasons best known to only you, you ignored the call for an emergency meeting.

“8. We, the undersigned, who attended the meeting have resolved that all actions in connection with the donations and disbursement of same be shelved forthwith, pending the resolution of the associated issues.

“9. Until the issues are resolved, any attempt to withdraw any money from the Branch account(s) for any form of disbursement will be resisted by lawful and legitimate means.

“10. Since you have considered it unnecessary to have recourse to the Elected Officers and the EXCO in all of these, we have decided, to and do hereby, issue a disclaimer that the Elected Officers of the Branch and the Exco do not have anything to do with the donated funds and its disbursement.

“11. This statement will be copied to all SANs, Senior members of the Branch and other stakeholders.”