Suspension Of NBA General Secretary: Adegboruwa ,SAN Urges NBA-NEC & Joyce Oduah To Sheath Swords Or Be Disbanded

– Cautions General Secretary, Joyce Odua, Against Disrupting Ongoing Litigation
– Faults Suspension And Deliberate Disobedience Of Court Order By NEC

Human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN)  and member of the Lagos state ENDSARs fact-finding panel, has faulted the suspension of the General Secretary of the NBA by its National Executive Council led by Olumide Akpata; and its deliberate and continuous attempt to undermine the decision of the Federal High Court nullifying the ratification, and by extension the suspension, of the NBA General Secretary, Joyce Stella Odua.

In a press release dated the 25th of August, 2022 which was signed by him and titled: “CONDUCT OF NBA EXCO UNBECOMING”, the Lagos ENDSARs fact-finding panelist noted that the events deserve the condemnation that comes from such unbecoming actions.

“Without mincing words, the NBA President no doubt failed the test of due process of law in the steps that he has taken under the suspension of the General Secretary. The moment the President got to know of the pending Court case by the General Secretary and that an order of injunction was being sought against the suspension, he owed the court the sacred duty to keep matters on hold and stay further action on the said suspension, as a mark of respect and deference to the authority and integrity of the Court.

The Motto of the NBA is RULE OF LAW and it behooves the President to err on the said of the law, even if it involves sacrifices on his part. This has been the stance of Mr. Olumide Akpata himself throughout his tenure in dealing with important national matters, for which many lawyers and lovers of the rule of law and due process have hailed him. He should have upheld those ideals and principles for which he had sought to hold others accountable throughout his tenure. To the extent that it was reported that the name of the General Secretary was deliberately omitted from the brochure and programs of the Annual General Conference was pursuing unbridled pettiness on the part of the NBA Exco.”

Adegboruwa also cautioned the General Secretary, Oduah on steps and approaches which she may take, noting that being a plaintiff in a pending application in court, she remains “duty bound to display a greater commitment to the due process of law, for even if the Court had directly ordered her reinstatement, she should still deploy the due process of law to pursue same and not to take the law into her own hands to seek to disrupt a Conference that had already commenced. In sending emails to NBA members through her email, whilst the court is yet to pronounce finally on her pending application for an injunction, or even the substantive suit, she has unwittingly thrown the NBA into confusion and disrepute, which action was unnecessary in the circumstances of this case.”

Appealing for restraint by all parties involved, the learned silk enjoined all parties to stand by the rule of law and apply the same in all cases, and “not throw lawyers into public opprobrium and disrepute by their resort to self-help. The NBA owes Nigeria the duty to lead by example and to use this case as a reference point of how lawyers and parties should conduct themselves in the course of prosecution of their causes in court.”

He further called on leaders of the Bar and all relevant stakeholders to weigh in on the issue and ensure that all parties “abide by the known tenets of due process and the rule of law” and whether they insist on being heady or “continue in their selfish recourse to self-help, then the entire Exco should be disbanded totally” to save the reputation and image of the Nigerian Bar Association.