Who is the next NBA president?

NBA President, Okey Wali SAN, while announcing the lifting of the ban also announced 14th and 15th July for the elections, after the NBA NEC meeting in Abuja.The next NBA president, who would be the 27th, is expected to emerge from the South West, courtesy of the NBA “gentleman agreement” otherwise known as the zoning […]

NBA President, Okey Wali SAN, while announcing the lifting of the ban also announced 14th and 15th July for the elections, after the NBA NEC meeting in Abuja.
The next NBA president, who would be the 27th, is expected to emerge from the South West, courtesy of the NBA “gentleman agreement” otherwise known as the zoning convention. The constitution of the association, though, does not contain anything about zoning.
Already, five presidential candidates, namely Mrs. Funk Adenoma (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), Chief Austin Allege (SAN), Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN) and Mr. Oases Erhabor have indicated interest to vie for the coveted position. Chief Alegeh had been endorsed as the sole candidate of the Midwest Bar Forum.
Immediately after the NEC meeting, leading lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN), urged delegates at the forthcoming NBA Delegates Conference in Abuja to elect her as the next NBA President, saying they would not regret the choice.
In her campaign manifesto, Adekoya, who is a former NBA 1st vice president, said her administration would revolve around a 3-point agenda aimed to tackle human resource development, organisational development, as well as institutional and legal framework development.
The agenda also aims to equip NBA members with requisite skills for 21st century legal practice, provide access to information, knowledge and training that will enable lawyers’ perform optimally, and set up management structures, processes and procedures within the NBA Secretariat to ensure that the association delivers world class membership benefits to all its stakeholders.
On institutional and legal framework development, she said she would spearhead legal and regulatory changes to enable the association fulfil its role as a representative of the profession, its members and the society at large.
“Our once great association is drifting towards irrelevance and insignificance both to its members as well as the larger society,” Adekoya stated.
She is worried that NBA members “are increasingly looking elsewhere for assistance with their professional growth, while other civil society organisations are dominating the discourse in the larger society.”
Adekoya, the fifth woman to be elevated to the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said she would execute the five-year strategic plan approved for the association under the current administration.
She identified challenges facing the association and presented a roadmap to tackle them, adding that, if elected, her administration will be based on “SMARTER” management principles, with Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time based goals which are routinely evaluated and reassessed by the NBA NEC.
Adekoya, who was instrumental to the restructuring of the NBA into sections, said the national officers will within 90 days after the annual Bar conference met with the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) leadership, “to solicit their support and explain why we will file criminal complaints against any estate surveyor and valuer who collects legal fees in their own names for preparation of tenancy and lease agreements, as this amounts to the illegal practice of law.”
She stated also that the national secretariat will by June 2015 ensure that continuing legal education materials are made available to members on DVDs/VCDs and by December 2015 they will be available as online videos/webinars.
A detailed administrative manual will be put in place at the NBA Secretariat by March 2015 to guide its operations, Adekoya assured, adding that the Prof. Chidi Odinkalu Report on the running of the NBA Secretariat would be fully implemented to create a conducive working environment, motivate staff, and ensure optimal performance.
Chief Michael Adeniyi Akintola on his part is a legal practitioner, human rights activist, an international arbitrator and a political scientist. He also stands as one of Ibadan’s biggest legal practitioners.
He is a man who many respect because he is not given to frivolities, so when he talks people listen.
Chief Niyi Akintola has also come up with a 5-points agenda. In his manifesto, he has promised to vigorously defend and protect civil and political rights of Nigerians and to promote accountability in government. He has vowed to serve as the people’s voice; to work with the National Assembly on fast tracking legislative reforms as well as promoting the NBA pro bono scheme.
Chief Akintola was at the forefront of the fight against military dictatorship in Nigeria before the return to democracy in 1999. He joined forces with pro-democracy campaigners and was hounded by the military, which regarded him and all those in rights activism as saboteurs. But today, Akintola is still displeased with the state of affairs in the country.
Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN) on his part, has a nine-point agenda. “My leadership shall develop a strategic welfare plan for Nigerian lawyers, old or young or senior. In addition, my regime will undertake restriction of range of documentation that can be undertaken by non-legal practitioners.  
“My regime will open up the ECOWAS legal market for free movement of legal services and legal practice as well as restrict in-house counsel from engaging in private legal practice,” he assured.
Adesina also vowed to fight delay in the judicial process and reverse the perception of our judiciary as a corrupt institution in order to rekindle public confidence and trust in the judiciary and the legal profession.

Adesina is a life member of the National Executive Committee of the NBA and a past General Secretary of the association. He is also a past chairman of the NBA, Ikeja branch and a former member of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council. He is a member of the Business Law Section of the International Bar Association and a member of the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group, an alternative dispute resolution organisation based in Nigeria.
He was a member of the National Political Reform Conference where he served as a member of the judiciary and legal reform committee of the conference and also a member of the distinguished Body of Benchers, the highest regulatory body in the legal profession.
Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN) was elevated to the rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2007.
Meanwhile, the Lagos branch of the NBA has resolved that no NBA branch inaugurated in 2014 should be allowed to send delegates to vote at the 2014 NBA Elections.
Daily Trust recalls that the “guidelines and time table for the 2014 NBA Elections” was issued by the Electoral Committee chaired by Mr. Okey Amaechi (SAN) on April 22, 2014.