NBA Presidency: ‘Yoruba lawyers have not adopted candidate’

This is coming on the heels of alleged suspension of the leadership of the organisation by a splinter group made up of six of the forum’s 28 branches.The secretary of the forum, Mr. Yinka Ajileti said recently in a telephone interview that he had been directed by the leadership of the body to call a […]

This is coming on the heels of alleged suspension of the leadership of the organisation by a splinter group made up of six of the forum’s 28 branches.
The secretary of the forum, Mr. Yinka Ajileti said recently in a telephone interview that he had been directed by the leadership of the body to call a meeting for January 18, 2014 to receive and consider the report of the screening committee which was mandated to appraise the prospective aspirants for the NBA elections. Ajileti emphasized that “nobody has been nominated by the Egbe Amofin” as its flag-bearer for the elections, moreso as the NBA leadership is yet to lift ban on electioneering campaigns. He noted that the issue did not arise as the forum is yet to receive the report of its duly appointed screening committee, adding that the forum would insist on following due process in the selection exercise.
The Egbe Amofin scribe described the splinter group that purportedly adopted one of the aspirants as a candidate for the NBA presidency as “an illegal body” comprising only six of the forum’s 28 branches, adding that the forum is not perturbed by their antics.
There were strong indications at the weekend that the forum may sanction the arrowheads of the splinter group for the embarrassment caused the body. Feelers also emerged that the purported adoption by the splinter group was meant to preempt the endorsement of a female candidate by the forum, given that she is believed to have garnered more support among the branches.
It is recalled that six of the 28 NBA branch chairmen in the South West Zone recently met at Akure, capital of Ondo state and sensationally suspended the revered Chief Bandele Aiku-led Executive of the forum. In a move viewed as an act of desperation by many watchers of NBA politics, the group also “adopted” their alleged sponsor as the South-West candidate for the forthcoming NBA presidential election.
Irked by the antics of the splinter group, chairmen of 16 NBA branches in the Southwest zone including Oyo, Ilorin, Offa, Badagry and Ibadan called for a meeting of the forum which is now slated for next January.
The NBA had adopted a gentleman’s agreement to rotate its presidency between the West, East and North. The 2014 NBA Presidency has been zoned to West, the incumbent NBA President Okey Wali having taken the slot of the East. Alleging exclusion from this arrangement, the Mid West Bar Forum is also pushing the candidacy of one of its own.
Three candidates from the South-West zone have indicated an interest to contest the 2014 NBA presidential election. Though a screening committee was set up to adopt a candidate for the forum, the committee’s work was delayed by a challenge to the right of the forum’s executive to appoint its membership. It is believed that the splinter group is worried that the outcome of the screening exercise may not be favourable to their alleged sponsor.