Lukman Olabiyi

One of the presidential candidates for the July 24th Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national elections, Dr Babatunde Ajibade, has declared that there was nothing to support the claim that the office of President of the NBA is the exclusive preserve of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).

Ajibade stated this in reaction to a statement made by Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in which he suggested that the office of President of the Nigerian Bar Association is the exclusive preserve of Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

Ajibade is one of two Senior Advocates cleared to contest for national president of the NBA. The third candidate in the race, Mr Olumide Akpata, is the only candidate that is not a SAN.

Faulting Awomolo’s claim, Ajibade said in a statement issued:

Related News

‘My attention has been drawn to a statement made by Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN in which he suggests that the office of President of the Nigerian Bar Association is the exclusive preserve of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).

‘I respectfully disagree with this position. There is nothing contained in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Constitution or in the history of the NBA to support this assertion.

‘There is near-unanimous agreement that one of the most popular and effective Presidents the NBA has had is Late Alao Aka-Basorun and the NBA has had other non-SAN Presidents since.

‘The focus should be on the character, capacity and antecedents of persons who aspire to lead our profession and not on their title or rank.

‘There are serious challenges facing the profession at this time and we need to unite the profession in order to effectively address them.’