NBA Reconstitutes National Election Appeals Committee as Former Members Resign

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has constituted a new National Election Appeals Committee (NBA-NEAC) with a mandate to receive and resolve complaints and disputes arising from the elections into the National Offices of the NBA held on Saturday, 16 July, 2022.

Olumide Akpata, President of the NBA, who announced this on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 in a statement he personally signed, said the reconstitution of the Appeals Committee came “against the backdrop of the allegation of bias, or likelihood of bias against members of the Appeals Committee by some interested parties, and the consequential resignation of the entire members of the Appeals Committee”.

The new Appeals Committee is made up of Kanu Agabi, SAN, CON as Chairman, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, OFR as Member, and Cecilia Madueke as Secretary. Also, Mr. Rotimi Ogunyemi will serve the Appeals Committee as Resident Expert on IT while Mr. Olumide Babalola will serve as Counsel.

Akpata said the Appeals Committee is empowered “to direct, at the request of a petitioner, or in its discretion, an independent audit of the July 2022 Elections, if the justice of the matter requires it, or if it would be necessary to further entrench confidence in the process”.

“Considering the lapse of the period of 10 days (from the date of announcement of the election results) allowed by the defunct Appeals Committee for the filing of election petitions, the new Appeals Committee shall indicate the time within which petitions may be filed following this announcement,” he said.

The members of the former Appeals Committee led by Mrs. Funmi Roberts had, in a letter to the NBA President dated 29 July 2022 and signed by all the members of the Committee, notified the President of their resignation on moral grounds and in order to pave the way for the constitution of a new Committee that would enjoy the confidence of any petitioners.

The resignation came after Chief J.K. Gadzama SAN, a presidential aspirant in the July 16 NBA elections, raised questions regarding the neutrality of some members of the Appeals Committee, saying, consequently, that he would not explore the option of approaching the Committee.

Akpata, in his statement on Wednesday, explained that at the time of constitution of membership of the former Appeals Committee, the political inclination of its members to any of the aspirants for the National Offices was not known to the leadership of the NBA.

“Indeed, the announcement of members of the Appeals Committee on 21 May 2022 predated the release of the list of qualified candidates by the ECNBA on 27 May 2022, as well as the official flag-off of campaigns by the ECNBA,” Akpata said.

“Since after the election, however, it has come to the knowledge of the leadership of the NBA that there have been some protest against the membership of the Appeals Committee bordering on allegations of possible partiality. Indeed, at least, one of the candidates at the election has petitioned the office of the President of the NBA suggesting that some members of the Appeals Committee are, or may be, compromised having allegedly supported the campaigns of some candidates who were returned at the election, and whose victory could be the subject of an electoral challenge,” he said.

The NBA President recalled that upon assumption of office, he had promised, among other things, to ensure a free, fair and transparent electoral process; one that inspires confidence in both winners and losers.

“It goes without saying that the electoral process which opens with the nomination of candidates extends beyond the actual casting of ballot, to post-election issues such as determination of petitions arising from the election. Ensuring the impartiality of members of the Appeals Committee therefore cannot be overemphasized,” he said.

He thanked members of the defunct Appeals Committee led by Mrs. Roberts for accepting the NBA’s invitation to serve.

“The circumstances leading to their resignation is, no doubt, a most unfortunate one yet, the moral high ground that they have taken will forever be remembered and appreciated,” he said.

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