Ordinarily, going
by the now out-dated bye-laws of the Branch, the general elections into the
Executive Committee of the Branch will hold in May and not in June as is the
case now under the new Uniform Bye-Laws of the Nigerian Bar Association which
has now grown into one hundred and eight branches.
The uniform Bye-Laws
which was passed in August 2015 at the Annual General Meeting of the
Association during the 2015 conference imposes certain conditions on
prospective voters in the coming elections.
Unlike in the past,
when all what qualified a voter to participate in the elections was financial
membership of the Branch and payment of practicing fees in the election year
the eligible voter in the new dispensation would have in addition the record of
attending general meetings of the Branch for no less than five times in the
election year.
One rule in the
uniform Bye-Laws which may spark controversy is section 6(3) which reads as
follows “No member of the Branch shall occupy the same office for more than two
(2) years (one term); and any member who has held elective offices as a Branch
officer for two (2) terms shall not be eligible to contest for a Branch office
until at least five (5) years his/her last term of office” This
provision was a major topic for discussion at the last National Executive
Committee (NEC) meeting of the Association in February at Jos, Plateau State.
Robust debate on the issue was however uncharacteristically squelched by Austin
Alegeh S.A.N the president, who presided over the meeting even as he expressed
an unpopular preference for an interpretation of the section 6(3) accommodating
a retro-active effect.
It is widely
believed that at the April monthly meeting of Ikeja Bar popularly cognomened
the ‘Tiger Bar’, the executive committee will officially declare campaigns open.
Another
interesting aspect of this year’s election is the severe clamp on campaign modes
for candidates. By virtue of Section 15(8) of the new constitution candidates
are forbidden to make publications of their campaign materials and distribute
same, outside the allowance of submitting them to the Electoral Committee to
the Electoral Committee for broadcast.
Aimed obviously to
curb the excessive monetization of campaigns, this new rule may adversely
affect proper dissemination of the ideas, values of candidates. While the
number of offices open for contest in the Ikeja Bar remains eleven, two of the
traditional offices; to wit 2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN and AUDITOR have been
abrogated while two new ones LEGAL ADVISER and PROVOST have been introduced.
Squib
investigations indicate that so far, the office of the Chairman has attracted
the highest number of aspirants-four; the office of the Secretary (General)
only two while the other offices do not seem to attract so much competition.
One of the General
Secretary contestants is Memunat Esegine, former Publicity Secretary of the
Branch 2012-2014. She had contested the office of General Secretary before in
2014 but lost to the incumbent office holder Seyi Olawumi. A dogged and visible
campaigner, she hopes for the best this time around.
Another aspirant
to the knowledge of this magazine is Folorunso Ilori. A quiet, self-effacing
personality devoid of glamour but well known in his circles as a committed and
tire-less worker,
From all
indications, in the first two week of April 2016 the office of the Secretary
may attract one or two other more contestants.
In the Chairman
category the contest promises to be interesting. The four contestants are
easily categorized into two class. The first class is that of contestants who
have held offices in the Tiger bar while the second class of contestants who
are green horns.
In the first class
are Adesina Ogunlana (former Welfare Officer, former General Secretary and
former 1st Vice-Chairman) and Gloria Nweze (former Treasurer, former
2nd Vice-Chairman and incumbent 1st Vice-Chairman)
In the second
class are Wale Ogunade and Bartholomew Aguegbodo.
Bartholomew
Aguegbodo
An oak of a man,
Aguegbodo was called to the Bar in January 2001 However inspite of his imposing
bulk, he perhaps appears the least prominent of all the contestants.
A genial
personality but a forceful speaker, Aguegbodo hopes to create upsets in the
elections.
Wale
Ogunade
Called to the Bar
in May 2001, Ogunade is the youngest at the Bar of all the contestants. He is lively
and extroverted. A television commentator, Ogunade sprouts populist preachments
and is the founder of the VOTERS AWARE,
a private organization set up to promote the ideas of holding valid and proper
elections through the sensitization of the electorate. He is however seen as
not being actively involved in the affairs of the Ikeja Bar yet but may turn
out a force to reckon with being an early bird campaigner in the race.
Gloria
Nweze
The only lady in
the contest, Nweze, called to the Bar in 1988, is the oldest at the Bar. She has
a record of service in the Bar starting from 2008, when she was appointed the
Treasurer of the Branch by the Dave Ajetomobi administration. She later became
the 2nd Vice-Chairman 2010-2012 and is the incumbent 1st
Vice-Chairman. She and her supporters have brought a sexist angle to the
contest contending that after about thirty five years in existence, it was high
time a gentleman in skirt becomes the leader of the great Ikeja Bar.
As the incumbent
the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee, she has energized her committee to
hold seminars and clinics on its assignment.
Adesina
Ogunlana
The last but not
the least in the race for the Chairmanship post is Adesina Ogunlana the widely
respected publisher of the resilient and fiery anti-corruption legal magazine, The Squib. Certainly the best known of
the contestants both at the local and national Bars, Ogunlana was called to the
Bar 1996, after bagging a first degree in English studies at the University of
Ife, eleven years earlier in 1985. An articulate progressive activist and
politically ambidextrous, Ogunlana a former General Secretary and former 1st
Vice Chairman of the Branch, is also the National Coordinator of a key
organizational participant in the 2015 General Elections, the Lawyers4Change.
Investigations indicate
that as today, Ogunlana, a main-streamer in Ikeja Bar since 2002 he is the
candidate, all other contestants consider the biggest obstacle in their path of
electoral success
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