A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, has emerged as the 31st President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
Maikyau, SAN, polled a total of 22, 342 votes to defeat his major challenger, Chief J. K. Gadzama, SAN, who got 10, 842 votes out of a total of 34, 564 votes that were cast for the position.
The 3rd contender for the NBA top position, Mr. Taidi Gunu, garnered 1, 380 votes, representing 4% of a total number of 34, 554 votes that were cast for the position.
Other national officers of the NBA that emerged from the election that commenced by 12am on Saturday, July 16, and ended by 12pm, are: Mrs Linda Bala as 1st Vice President of the association, Mr. Clement Ugo as 2nd Vice President and Mrs. Amanda Demechi-Asagba as the 3rd Vice President.
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Others are: Mr. Adesina Adegbite as General Secretary, Mr Daniel Kip Ka-Ayli as Assistant General Secretary, Ms. Chinyere Obasi as National Welfare Secretary, Mr Habeeb Lawal as National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olawole Ajiboye as Assistant Publicity Secretary and Anze-Bishop Ladidi as the Treasurer.
20 lawyers were equally elected as members of the NBA General Council to represent the Western, Eastern and Northern zones.
Announcing the election results on Sunday, Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the NBA, ECNBA, Mr Ayodele Akintunde, SAN, disclosed that out of a total of 59, 392 records of eligible voters from the NBA database, 59, 388 records were okayed to vote.
Akintunde added that while 1, 346 emails that were sent out to some of the eligible voters bounced back, only 34, 809 lawyers, representing 58. 61% of the membership strength of the association, participated in the election that was conducted electronically.
He noted that some of the common complaints the ECNBA Secretariat received, included the inability of some lawyers to correctly input their Supreme Court Number, SCN, as instructed, wrong/invalid contact information, no voting links, as well as multiple email reminders.
Meanwhile, in his speech, the newly elected President of the NBA, Maikyau, SAN, while thanking God for his victory, urged all those that contested the election and lost, to join hands with his team to move the association forward.
Maikyau, SAN, commended the outgoing President of the NBA, Mr. Olumide Akpata, SAN, for his efforts to reposition the association.
He equally implored the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to understudy the technology-driven electoral system of the NBA.
He said there was need for INEC to leaverage on technology in such a way that electorates across the federation could cast their votes from the comfort of their homes, as was done by the NBA in its election he described as free, fair and credible.
Maikyau, SAN, said the NBA under his leadership, would continue to speak truth to power and to do all within its mandate to promote the rule of law and protect human rights in the country.
On his part, the outgoing President of the NBA, Mr. Akpata, SAN, while commending the members of the NBA electoral committee, urged those that lost at the poll to accept the results in good faith and join hands to move the association forward.
Akpata further revealed that ahead of the 2023 general elections, he said the NBA has mandated its public interest litigation committee to approach the INEC to verify an allegation that it allowed the substitution of names of candidates that did not participate in primary election of their political parties.
“We will go and find out how true the allegation is and take it up from there”, he added, just as he commended the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Mike Igini, describing him as “our member that has stood out as the lone voice of reason”.
