Romanus Okoye
It was an incident that caused ripples across the country. On July 30, Mr. Olumide Akpata defeated Dele Adesina and Babatunde Ajibade, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), to emerge president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He won by a landslide, with 9,891 votes of the total 18,256 ballots cast. His closest rival, Ajibade, polled 4,328 votes, while Adesina polled 3,982 votes. It was a virtual voting process.
Followers of the NBA’s activities believe that many factors contributed to the emergence of Akpata. According to them, the new constitution of the NBA adopted in 2015 abrogated the delegate system and introduced universal suffrage. Under the former system, only selected delegates from branches were eligible to vote. The delegate system, according to analysts, was prone to manipulation and disenfranchisement of young lawyers, who are in the majority. But, with universal suffrage, all lawyers are qualified to vote, as long as they pay their practising fees and branch dues.
Analysts equally held that Akpata’s campaign slogan, “An inclusive bar that works for all,” excited many junior lawyers, who believe that he would make the profession 21st Century-compliant. On the issue of welfare, Daily Sun learnt that his firm was one of the very few that paid living wages to lawyers, coupled with his passion to mentor young lawyers.
Another factor that worked exceedingly for him, according to analysts, was the inability of the other two candidates of Yoruba extraction to step down for each other. The presidency was zoned to the West, so when neither of the two senior advocates agreed to step down for the other, the umbrella body of Yoruba lawyers, known as Egbe Amofin, under the leadership of some prominent lawyers, adopted Adesina as a consensus candidate. But Ajibade and his supporters dismissed the adoption, which, consequently, split their votes. But some disagreed with this position, noting that Akpata scored more votes than the two candidates combined.
At the beginning of the campaign, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, had, in a letter to Chief T.J.O. Okpoko, SAN, suggested that the position of NBA presidency should be reserved for SANs only. “It will be a great failure of leadership for the senior advocate to surrender leadership to outer Bar when there are willing and able senior advocates,” he had written. Many lawyers, including some senior advocates, disagreed with Awomolo. Some pointed out that ability to lead an association successfully has nothing to do with being a senior advocate. Some even argued further that the learned already have busy schedules. Professor Chidi Odinkalu said the letter was as close as anyone could come to openly advocating rigging the election à la carte, without calling the crime by its name. The outcome of the election created the impression that many young lawyers might have registered their protest through their votes.
Besides, there were allegations of missing or unknown names in the final voting list. But it cannot be confirmed if they were for or against Akpata.
While Ajibade congratulated the new president, Adesina described the election as “electronic fraud, illegal and unconstitutional.”
In his acceptance speech, Akpata said he would remain loyal and magnanimous in victory.
“The victory is for our young lawyers who have become disillusioned with the way the NBA has been run over the years and how the profession appears to be disconnected from the challenges that face them and their future,” he said. “It is for the progressive senior lawyers who refused to accept the status quo and took firm steps to ensure that things are done better. It is for the corporate counsel, law officers, law teachers, the police and military lawyers, and lawyers in all components of the profession who for long have been treated as unequal members of an association that ought to be the umbrella body for all legal practitioners.”
Regarding the electoral process, he said, “I am not unaware of the complaints by at least one of the presidential candidates about the administrative issues surrounding the election. As members of the legal profession, our electoral process ought to be and remain a standard for others to follow. I said this much in my second letter dated July 29, 2020, to the chairman of the Electoral Committee. I strongly believe that there is plenty room for improvement in our electoral process, and I am committed to making this possible.”
The new NBA president was called to the Bar on December 15, 1993, after obtaining his law degree from the University of Benin. His law career started under the late Dr. Mudiaga Odje, SAN, during his National Youth Service Corps, before joining Templars, where he has risen to the position of senior partner and head of corporate and commercial practice.
Other officers elected along with him were John O. Aikpokpo-Martins, first vice president; Adeyemo Kazeem Debo, second vice president; Oduah Joyce, general secretary; Nwadialo Esther Uchenna, assistant secretary; Mercy Ijato Agada, treasurer, and Edun Olukunle, welfare secretary.
Also elected were Anagor Raphael Nnamdi, financial secretary; Nduka Rapuluchukwu Ernest, publicity secretary; and Naza Ferdinand Afam, assistant publicity secretary.