NBA IKEJA ELECTIONS: FEAR GRIPS CANDIDATES

SQUIB COVER STORY

On 2nd June 2008, the NBA Ikeja branch, a.k.a Tigers branch, at its Annual General meeting, reconstituted her Electoral Committee, to organise elections into the Executive Council of the branch.

It would be recalled that the reconstitution became necessary upon the collapse of the original electoral committee headed by Taiwo Adeoluwa Esq.

Unlike its limpid predecessor, the new Electoral Committee headed by Mr. Layi Babatunde, S.A.N, with Miss Nike Onasanya as secretary and Femi Falana Esq. as member, is demonstrating her determination to get the task entrusted to her done satisfactorily.

On Thursday the 19th June 2008, after days of careful and deep perusal of screening records of the branch pertaining to candidates in the deform of attendance lists (in care of Mr. Beckley the General Secretary of the branch) and dues’ payment records (in charge of Mr. Yinka Faroubi Esq. the financial Secretary) the committee met with the contestants at about 4:00p.m.

The main purpose of the meeting was to conduct a public hearing of the petitions pending before the committee. At the end of the three hour long exercise, it became apparent that certainly not all the contestants would be allowed to participate in the election.

For example in the chairmanship level, the committee upon an examination of the records of attendance before them, declared that Dele Oloke did not meet up the required number of meetings per year which is 7. Oloke’s response was to launch into his traditional tirade against “the cabal which has been rigging in the branch”, advocating in the process that the bye-laws should be jettisoned for the purpose of the elections. The petition against Dave Ajetomobi Esq. written by Niyi Akinmola Esq., to the effect that Ajetomobi did not pay his 2006-2007 practising fees and only has a back –dated receipt to cover up for him was also considered.
When Ajetomobi denied the allegation against him, the committee called upon Yinka Faroubi, the financial secretary to clarity the position. Faroubi, much to the angst of the petitioner declared that Ajetomobi made valid payment and was validity issued a receipt.

Yet Akinmola would not give up. He demanded to see the stub of Ajetomobi’s receipt, but that examination could not be carried out since the Electoral Committee did not come with receipt booklets submitted to them by the financial secretary. The two rivals were asked to come back the next day to face the committee on the issue. On the return date Ajetomobi showed up before the committee but Akinmola did not.

The petition of Ajetomobi against Akinmola was also considered. Ajetomobi had accused Akinmola of having an unqualified member in the person of Biyi Oguntuga Esq as the seconder of his nomination.
According to Ajetomobi, Oguntuga only attended meetings of the branch between 2006 -2007 only two times. The examination of the attendance records in respect of Biyi Oguntuga drew attention to Beckley Abioye Esq another chairmanship aspirant but who is also the secretary for 2006 – 2008 years.

The committee found that while Abioye’s report on attendance credited Oguntuga with 9 sittings, the attendance register had him for 8, while the list of attendees of branch meetings published also by Abioye had him for only 2 times. Oguntuga’s in reaction to these discrepancies was to say that he was always coming late to meetings, reasons why his name was always at the bottom of the register, after it had been deemed close. When queried whether he ever complained at any of the meetings that his name was not adequately reflected on the published list of attendance Oguntuga said “no” because “ I never thought it necessary”.

Abioye’s defence was that he didn’t know how Oguntuga’s name got on the registers of the meetings. It was the same argument he put up later when he was queried over Abiola Oketoki, a social secretary aspirant whose name did not appear for once in the published attendance records for 2006 – 2007 year but whom the Abioye report astonishingly credited with 8 sittings. Interestingly, Oketoki defence or explanation to the curious situation was that she was always coming late to meeting; hence her name was also, always down the register after closure.

In the 1st Vice-President post, Oguntuga’s petition against Dare Akande Esq was treated. The allegation against the national leader of the Progressive Bar Forum was that he did not actually pay his branch dues for year 2006 – 2007 and that he was given a backdated receipt to cover him up.

This allegation was denied by Akande and his position was supported by Yinka Faroubi the financial secretary, who declared that Akande duly paid his branch dues.

In the 2nd Vice Chairman category, one of the three contestants, Mamuna Esegine, did not show up, so the petition of one of her rivals, Terry Badmus Adeniyi was not heard. The hearing was adjourned till the 20th June 2008, the next day. However, Esegine did not turn up also at the second date. The other contestant, Dafosta Osinowo did not argue with the committee’s finding that he did not have sufficient sittings, for year 2006- 2007 saying he was prepared to abide with their decision.

At the Secretary – Generalship levels, the hearing of the petition against Titi Osagie (Mrs) by her sole rival Isa Buhari that she did not pay adequate branch due brought out some heat from Osagie. Her claim that she duly paid her branch dues was backed by an affidavit sworn to in proof. But when the committee enquired from the financial secretary about the affidavit angle, Faroubi declared that Osagie did not pay to him and did not enquire from his office about the duplicate or stub of her missing receipt, before procuring an affidavit which according to him cannot stand for a certification of the document in question. Immediately the committee finished with her, Osagie walked out in annoyance.

When it came to the turn of the petition against S.O Omodara, whose opponent, Lateef Abdusalam accused of not having his branch dues, Omodara produced a receipt to the contrary.

However the receipt which bore a December 2006 date interesting came from a batch of March 2007 booklet. The financial secretary, Yinka Faroubi, denied issuing the receipt despite the fact that Farounbi’s signature was on the receipt. Farounbi explained that he left already signed booklet of receipt with the bar clerk so that payments can be made even in his absence as he was then engaged in his LLM programe, according to Farounbi such booklet were forcefully taken away from the bar clerk by the chairman and secretary of the branch without his knowledge or his authority. It was those documents that he alleged were tampered with including the one which included Omodara’s name.
The treatment of the petition against Miss Abiola Oketoki, social secretary contestant was also interesting. While Oketoki’s opponent, Emmanuel Otobo who came to the meeting armed with bundles of several papers and documents as if he was counsel to a party before the famous Oputa Panel, claimed that Oketoki did not pay her branch dues, Oketoki denied this but had no receipt to show for it. When she claimed that she made payment to the Bar Clerk, Miss Queen Ebohon, the committee summoned the clerk, who promptly denied Oketoki’s claim.

The petition against A. Ahmed contestant for the welfare secretary post was not treated for the absence of the petitioner, Chinwe Joy.
At the end of it all, the Electoral Committee hold the contestants that on Monday 23rd June 2008, she will put up their report on the qualification of candidates and by Wednesday the 25th June, the list of voters would be out. According to the committee they would give a few days to hear the complaints of any aggrieved voter with proof that his name is excluded from the voters list and make necessary adjustment.

From all indications then, the most likely time the long awaited Tiger Bar election will hold is Monday 30th June 2008.
Although nobody is sure which candidates will eventually be cleared for the election by the Electoral Committee, contestants who are either members or allies of the Niyi Idowu – Beckley Abioye group to wit:- Beckley Abioye, Biyi Oguntuga, Titi Osagie, Abiola Oketoki, S.O Omodara, Mamuna Esegine, appear to be feeling the heat more, probably because the bulk of ‘heavy’ petitions were directed against them or are otherwise affected in the on going scrutiny of qualifying records.

Just about press time, (Saturday 21-06-2008) credible, gecko-borne news reached the Squib that the Electoral Committee was at work in the office of her chairman, Layi Babatunde S.A.N. The committee met to give further opportunity to entertain Niyi Akinmola’s petition against Dave Ajetomobi. Both men were summoned likewise the financial secretary who however did not turn up.

Geckos were surprised, to hear Niyi Akinmola who maintained that he would not press his claim unless Faroubi was present, accuse two members of the Electoral Committee – the chairman himself, Layi Babatunde S.A.N and Femi Falana Esq. of acting out “the script of Dave Ajetomobi to get me (Akinmola) disqualified.”

According to our information, Niyi Akinmola was agitated, confrontational and rude but the Electoral Committee members with some effort kept their cool and adjourned the hearing of his petition to Sunday the 22nd June 2008 when Farounbi was expected to be available.
When contacted on the phone four times between 8.00pm and 8.20pm by the Squib on this development, Niyi Akinmola was not prepared to talk, aside asking this reporter whether he was a candidate or petitioner in the elections.

Surely, the drama of the 2008 NBA Ikeja branch elections has not ended.

LASTMA STAFF KILLS LAGOS COURT WORKER

SQUIB COVER STORY

Lateef Osho Jogunomi was a well known face in the sheriffs section of the Ikeja High Court. He was an auxiliary staff, one of the many signed on by the Lagos State Judiciary to act as assistants to sheriffs on execution duties.
On Friday the 6th June 2008, Jogunomi, said to be in his late forties and a father of five, left his house very early in the morning to carry out an eviction exercise with some of his colleagues in a suburb of Lagos but he was never to return to his house or the loving company of his family, for whom he was head and the main bread-winner. By 8:30a.m on this fateful Friday morning, the enforcers of court orders had successfully carried out their task and they dispersed to find their way back to their base – the Ikeja High Court. Jogunomi and only of member of his team, Aliyu Ajiwokeu kept company in the bid to get back to Ikeja. But neither of them reached that destination as an unexpected and unwanted tragedy visited them on the way and truncated their journey, ultimately taking Jogunomi on a journey of no return.
According to Aliyu Ajiwokeu, Jogunomi’s companion who witnessed how his colleague suddenly became a patient in a hospital’s emergency ward and later an occupier of a space in the morgue, put the blame for the unfortunate demise of Jogunomi squarely on the door steps of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA).
Said Ajiwokeu “We were coming from where we went for execution. When we got to Ketu we took a bus that would take us to Oshodi. We were approaching Oshodi Oke, when two LASTMA staff stopped our bus. The bus was passing in front of their Oshodi office that very time. When the driver stopped, the two LASTMA staff ordered all passengers to come down.
All of us were shocked, moreso as it was raining that time. We however came down and I was the one who led the other passengers to meet the two LASTMA staff to enquire from them why they had to order us down from the bus.
One of the LASTMA men was almost fully kitted out in his official uniform while the other was in mufti, Ankara dress specifically.
The two men were rude and hostile to us saying that they needed the bus for their operation. When we now said what about the fare we had paid to the driver, they shouted that that’s our problem and hat we should go away.
At that point one of the passengers when I later knew to be Taofeek told the LASTMA men that they were acting unfairly and oppressively and were abusing the privilege that they were uniformed men. For saying that Taofeek’s umbrella was taken from him and broken.
Suddenly the LASTMA man in mufti just pushed those of us standing together and we staggered back. Then he went to Jogunomi who never uttered a word and who was standing by himself and shoved him violently backwards.
Taking by surprise Jogunomi fell backward immediately, hitting his head on the road, right at the entrance of LASTMA office.
As he fell, his phone flew away from his hand and I rushed to pick it up, thinking, he Jogunomi would pick himself up, but he just lay there.
I saw the two LASTMA men ran into their office, after Taofeek unsuccessfully tried holding down the man who pushed Jogunomi to the ground. Taofeek joined me to chase them while the women amongst us started wailing that LASTMA has killed a person.
Once inside their vast compound, the two men disappeared but in the commotion, I heard some other LASTMA staffing referring to the escapes as Yomi and Yusuf. One DSP Sunday, a senior police officer who was there advised that it was better that we should abandon chasing for the two LASTMA men and look after my colleague and we did just that.
We lifted him from the ground and took him to their clinic in the compound and from there we took him to Gbagada General Hospital. He was in very bad shape, he couldn’t talk, blood was coming from his nose, yet he was struggling to stand up from the hospital bed and we had to hold him down. I contacted our office by phone and our superiors, particularly Magistrate Oguntade, the Director of the Department swung into action. That madam really tried. We heard she called the Chief Judge, and also the Governor and she came to join us at the hospital. At about 8:00p.m that evening I had to leave for my house. By the next morning, I heard that Jogunomi gave up about 1:00a.m in the morning.
We have reported the mater to the police at Mosafejo Police Station but I don’t know how far they have gone with their investigation, or whether the LASTMA men have been apprehend”
The Squib gathered it was only on Tuesday the 10th June that the remains of the late Jogunomi was interred, after an autopsy was conducted on his body. We also gathered that a sum of twenty five thousand naira was released by the Lagos State Judiciary authorities to Jogunomi’s family to aid in his burial ceremony.
The Squib’s efforts at meeting Magistrate Oguntade, the Director of the Sheriffs section twice on Jogunomi death in the past week was abortive. Although we met with Mr. Ogundare, the acting Chief Registrar of the Lagos State Judiciary, no enlightenment on the latest developments in the case emerged in that direction as the high level official maintained the age-long policy of wary official interaction and taciturnity with the Squib. According to the acting Chief Registrar, “There is no formal report from the Department concerned on the matter yet and so I would not want to say anything more than acknowledging the fact that someone died. To go beyond that is to be indulging in speculations.”
Observers believe that the death of auxiliary Sheriff Lateef Osho Jogunomi is one death that the Lagos State Judiciary, his employer should not allow to be swept under the carpet, for two important reasons: one to show that the Lagos Judiciary values and cares for all her staff, irrespective of their levels and status and two - to act as deterrence to other members of Lagos State Law enforcement agencies like LASTMA, Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) corpsmen etc who indulge in brutalising and humiliating members of the public in the name of carrying out their duties.
Meanwhile the Squib advises the family of late Jogunomi to take up civil claims against LASTMA in the court of law for the unlawful, wicked and reckless determination of their bread-winner’s life. The NBA Ikeja branch can be approached in this regard.

THE GREAT ASSIGNMENT

SQUIB COVER STORY

2nd June 2008 started as an ordinary day for Nike Onasanya, a young lady lawyer and member of the famous Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association. The day however ended for her on an extra-ordinary note.

The young lawyer, like about eight hundred other members of the Tiger Bar came to the branch secretariat for the Annual General Meeting of the branch last Monday with the main aim of participating in the elections that would provide new executives for the branch but ended up becoming the secretary of the newly constituted Electoral Committee of the branch saddled with the responsibility of conducting the now postponed elections.

As secretary, Onasanya is walking and working with ‘giants’. The chairman of the reconstituted Electoral Committee is Mr. Layi Babatunde S.A.N, the publisher of the well known Supreme Court Reports, while the only other member is none other than Barrister Femi “Authority Falana, the famous human rights campaigner.

Very early in the day (June 2 2008) the portents indicated that the scheduled elections might not take place after-all. Quite unlike all previous Annual General Meetings, of June 2 2008 did not start in time. In fact the meeting was called to order around 2:40p.m, a hundred minutes after schedule.
The delay was inevitable. Niyi Idowu Esq. as well as Mr. Rex Onobrakpeya and Mr. Gbenga Akingbehin the surviving members of the Original Electoral Committee were at different times locked up with elders of the branch, on the best way to get out of the log-jam created by the disintegration of the Taiwo Adeoluwa Electoral Committee and which was not in any shape to conduct elections.

The Adeoluwa Electoral Committee in practical terms came to grief on 26th May 2008, when the Chairman of the Committee, unprecedentedly resigned from the Committee. As it turned out, the other two members (Onobrakpeya and Akingbehin) maintained sharply opposing views on what to do about the contestants. While Onobrakpeya cleared all the candidates on the ground that the records to be used for the screening was manifestly unreliable, Akingbehin relied on the same records to prescribe for the disqualification of close to 75% percent of the contestants.

The dilemma, the Ikeja branch of the NBA faced on June 2 2008 was what to do in the face of the contradictory positions of the self decapitated Taiwo Adeoluwa Electoral Committee.
The singular question was whether in the circumstances, it was proper hold her elections on June 2 2008. Ordinarily the resolution of this question would not have proved so knotty, if the leadership of the bar, specifically Niyi Idowu Esq, the out-going (out-gone?) chairman was disposed to having the elections rescheduled.

The gentle-man however was of a contrary disposition. In fact he was firmly committed to the position that willy-nilly the elections must hold on the June 2 2008.
Credible information reaching the Squib had it that despite meeting with the elders first on Friday the 30th May 2008 and on June 2 2008 before the A.G.M started, Idowu was still bent on seeing that elections took place on that day, even though he could not openly disagree with the elders, the clear majority of whom wanted the elections postponed for two weeks to allow for proper screening of the candidates to be conducted by a new electoral committee.
In the two weeks of the postponed elections, the Council of Elders, a body recognised under the constitution would take over from the Idowu administration.
Idowu was opposed to this proposition for two reasons:
The first one was personal – if his administration was succeeded by a care-taker committee, called by whatever appellation, it is a clear indication that his administration ended up in crisis, a situation if perceived to be a stain on his political record.
The second reason was political – if elections were postponed and a new electoral committee setup, with the mandate as the elders wanted it, to follow the bye-laws in the conduct of the elections, most, if not all of the candidates sponsored by Idowu stand very good chances of being disqualified as their opponents had raised strong petitions against them before the now defunct Adeoluwa Committee.
The conduct of the A.G.M by Idowu had no problems except a few hiccups in the one instance, where he and the General Secretary, Beckley Abioye in their reports were shockingly parsimonious with praises and acknowledgement due to the Lagos State Government which had given to the branch a brand new 32 sealer coaster bus.
This rather curious posture generated a negative reception from many members, because even the very devil it is said deserve his dues; not to talk of a benefactor of the branch like the Lagos State Government.

All the same at the end of his seven page speech, the traditional standing ovation was given to the chairman while the elders and leading lights of the branch moved to the high-table to congratulate Idowu for a “successful two year tenure” in office as chairman.
The next stage in the proceedings ordinarily was for the out-going executives to vacate the high- table for the Electoral Committee, which would set to the task of conducting elections immediately.
Unfortunately, there was no electoral committee to be called upon, for reasons earlier on stated in this report. Consequently, the chairman and the secretary retained their sets on the high-table.
The chairman proceeded to address the house and immediately showed that he had an agenda different from his agreement with the elders, to wit, to get the house to dissolve the decapitated Adeoluwa Committee, set up a new electoral committee, set up a care-taker committee and fix a date for the elections (not later than two or three weeks).

In his speech, the chairman gave a sharply edited version of the condition of the Taiwo Adeoluwa committee. According to Idowu, all what the Adeoluwa committee had done was to forward to him two proposals as regard the elections for two weeks or to conduct the election on June 2 2008 with all the contestants being allowed to vie, courtesy of a jettisoning of the branch’s bye-laws.

Idowu, clearly for reasons best known to him, refused to inform the house that the committee chairman, Taiwo Adeoluwa had resigned his appointment and that the other two members were not in agreement on how to go about the conduct of the elections.

Even before he finished his speech, the elders realised that Idowu had departed from their agreement and swiftly though their leader, Chief V.A Odunaiya, tried to get the meeting onto the course of their preference - postponed elections and conformity with the branch’s bye-laws in conduct of the elections.

Chief Odunaiya however had only the floor for a few minutes before hecklers started to interject him. Chief Odunaiya’s interjectors’ main cry was that they wanted the elections “now!” About two hours before then, the Niyi Idowu – Beckley Abioye group had circulated many copies of the report of the 2002 Electoral Committee of the NBA Ikeja, headed by Chief V.A Odunaiya to member present. The purpose was to show that six years ago, the Ikeja bar actually suspended her bye-laws in the screening of all candidates for that year’s election and allowed all contestants to vie.

Unfortunately for the vendors of the Odunaiya Electoral Committee Report, many people saw it as inappropriate comparison with the 2008 situation and a cheap blackmail of Chief V.A Odunaiya.
In the confused atmosphere that the lingering hot debates whether the election should hold that day or not, it was clear that to all discerning minds that for reasons of the obvious division of the Adeoluwa Electoral Committee, absence of Election materials and the passage of time, (it was already 4:30p.m in the evening) that the elections could not hold, yet the Niyi Idowu – Beckley Abioye group supported by their junior political partners, the slight camp of Niyi Akinmola continued to shout that the elections must hold.

But at the end of the day all the cacophonous exertions of the “Elections Today, Today” hawks came to naught. Their resolve to continue with their agitations broke when Dele Adesina S.A.N, took the floor. The silk wove logic round oration to convince the agitators that the only reasonable path to take in the circumstances was to disband the Adeoluwa Committee, set up a new one and postpone the elections. Adesina made an unimpeachable distinction between the Electoral situation of the bar in 2002 and the present situation; to the effect that while the 2008 Electoral Committee was in shambles and presented two conflicting reports, the 2002 Electoral Committee of Chief V.A Odunaiya was not only united and presented a single report, it actually screened candidates and only requested for the permission of the full house that the result of the screening exercise be not followed, to allow elections into all the offices. There was also no allegation of doctoring of qualification records in 2002, unlike 2008.
When the house accepted the Dele Adesina reasoning, the next task dissolving - the Adeoluwa Committee was quickly done. But setting up a new Electoral Committee proved not that easy. The problem was that Idowu wanted to control the nomination of the members of the Electoral Committee.
This move was stoutly resisted by Idowu’s opponents. At the end of the day, eight nominators were recognised; who each called out their nominees out of which only three were chosen by the house.

The first nominee was Mr. Layi Babatunde S.A.N and his nominator was Adesina Ogunlana. It was an impeccable nomination. Everybody automatically knew that Babatunde S.A.N with his huge reputation for legality and thoroughness will not make the Committee but become the chairman on account of his seniority.

Later when Femi Falana was also nominated by another person, it was also clear that Falana would make the committee. And so it was. The third member of the new committee was Nike Onasanya, the only lady among the eight nominees, and who was more or less unilaterally made the secretary of the committee by Dele Adesina S.A.N who told the house to accept her as member and secretary. And so it was.

Not long after the constitution of the Layi Babatunde (SAN) Electoral Committee, the meeting came to an end, but the Niyi Idowu Executive Committee was not dissolved. The AGM was adjourned for two weeks and for the elections to hold then.

From all indications, the Layi Babatunde (SAN) Electoral Committee is poised to use the Bye-Laws in the conduct of the elections and it has started working already.
In a statement dated 4th June 2008, the committee expressed its desire to do a thorough job and solicited the support of all members of the branch, including the candidates, in the discharge of their duties. Please see cover story exhibit.

Given the bitter wrangling and deep suspicions that have attended the issue of elections in the Tiger Bar, the past six weeks, the Layi Babatunde (SAN) Electoral Committee will need all the good luck and goodwill it can muster to succeed in their task more so as some candidates, fearing disqualification have been heard muttering in some quarters that:
“We will not allow the elections to take place
if any candidate is disqualified from the elections
by the Electoral Committee.”

ELECTIONS! ELECTIONS!! ELECTIONS!!! BUT WILL IT HOLD?

On Monday, June 2 2008, the ‘Bar Centre’ Secretariat of the Nigerian bar Association Ikeja branch will become a Mecca to hundreds of Nigerian lawyers in the afternoon of the day.

The ‘pilgrims’, members of the most radical and certainly the foremost branch of the Bar Association would be coming to their secretariat with one major purpose in their mind-to-participate in the general elections of the famous branch scheduled to hold on that day.

It is also a day that the Niyi Idowu led administration of the Ikeja bar would be vacating the seat of power, to join the growing tribe of past leaders of the Tigers’ Bar.

One of the questions uppermost in the minds of many Tigers now, is “who will be the next chairman of the Tiger Bar?” However, there is even a question of a more urgent dynamics-will the Elections itself hold?

In ordinary times, the latter question would have been unthinkable and quite preposterous to voice out. But these are not ordinary times with the Tiger Bar. As at press time, it can be fairly argued that the body the Tiger Branch has saddled with the conduct of the election is not prepared, or at least is not in a good shape to carry out the exercise.

It would be recalled that about three weeks ago, that the Squib had predicted that going by the contradictory tendencies in the 3 - man Electoral Committee, the Committee may split.

This exactly has happened. The Electoral Committee formerly headed by Taiwo Adeoluwa Esq has not only split but worse, disintegrated.
The first visible sign that the Electoral Committee was in serious trouble was when the chairman, Adeoluwa Esq, surreptitiously, without prior notice to his members, forwarded his letter of resignation from the Committee to the chairman of the branch, Niyi Idowu Esq, on the 26th May, 2008.

Adeoluwa’s action caught the other two members of the E.C (Rex Onobrakpaya Esq. and Gbenga Akingbehin Esq.) napping. Three days before 26th May, 2008, all the three men had jointly signed an interim report on the candidates where they made a sweeping declaration that the Committee had enough materials to disqualify all the candidates in the election (20 in all). This position was considered provocative and unjustifiable by some candidates, who went ahead to formally put down their objection on paper (See Cover Story Exhibit).

In his letter of resignation, which was void of any reason for the withdrawal from duty, Adeoluwa stated that he had handed over all properties of the branch in his custody to the care of the most senior member of the Committee” to wit: Rex Onobrakpeya.

Interestingly, Onobrakpeya interpreted the resignation of Adeoluwa Esq. from the membership of the Electoral Committee and the handing over to him of materials to mean that he automatically became the chairman of the Electoral Committee. He apparently did not avert his mind to the fact that under the Bye-Laws of the Ikeja Bar, a valid Electoral Committee must comprise of three members.

Without further ado, Onobrakpeya assumed the office of the chairman of the E.C and promptly set to work, taking very important but as event would later show, unilateral decisions, on behalf of the new “amputated” Electoral Committee which only comprised of himself and Gbenga Akingbehin.

Working very swiftly indeed, Onobrakpeya on the 26th May, 2008 the very day that Adeoluwa resigned, caused to be posted on the notice board of the Ikeja Bar Secretariat, a document, wherein he cleared all the contestants for the elections on the basis that “after due consultation with all interested parties, we are of the opinion that it will be morally wrong and reprehensible to exclude any one based on the records placed before us to conduct this elections as the records are manifestly unreliable.” (see cover story exhibit).

The Rex Onobrakpeya report excited certain contestants particularly those who were battling with eligibility, while it disturbed those contestants and their supporters who had no eligibility challenges.

On Tuesday 27th May, 2008, the self-appointed chairman of the Electoral Committee was sighted at the Bar Centre clutching some bags and files. He was seen, using his phones to summon all the candidates to a meeting with the E.C. But before the meeting could start, ‘chairman’ Onobrakpeya was openly challenged by Adesina Ogunlana Esq., a PBF chieftain as to the propriety of the Onobrakpeya report which Ogunlana claimed was unilateral and mischievous, a creation of Onobrakpeya to satisfy certain political interests. According to Ogunlana, Ononbrakpeya by his action had become a politician and would be treated as a political opponent by those opposed to his partisan position.

The confrontation even became more heated when Rex Onobrakpeya called upon an on-looker, a man he described as his bodyguard to come and protect him. The ‘body-guard’ however remained wisely quiescent and the storm blew over.

In the event, the meeting of the amputated Electoral Committee with candidates never took place again. This was because, when Mr. Gbenga Akingbehin, the secretary of the E.C showed up some ninety minutes later, he and Onobrakpeya disagreed on the report Onobrakpeya had put up. Akingbehin was heard by many people telling Onobrakpeya that he was not aware of his (Onobrakpeya’s) report and that Onobrakpeya was unfair to him.

On Wednesday, the 28th of May, 2008, Yinka Farounbi Esq. the financial secretary of the association put up the list of financial members of the Ikeja Bar for year 2007/2008, which in effect is the list of those eligible to vote in the June elections. The presence of the “Voters List” re-kindled hope in the hearts of watchers of the Ikeja Bar political scene that the elections would take place on June 2, 2008. But, on Friday 30th May, 2008, that hope suddenly vaporised, courtesy of an 11 page report posted up the notice board by Gbenga Akingbehin Esq.

The Akingbehin Report was not only a blistering denounciation of the Onobrakpeya Report, it was a radical departure from the direction of the Onobrakpeya Report in that it presented strong basis for the exclusion of some contestants from the race, including all but one of the candidates for chairman. The only chairmanship candidates who survived the Akingbehin axe is Dave Ajetomobi Esq. (Please see cover story exhibit.)
The Akingbehin report needless to say was sharply unpalatable to most of those it negatively affected.

Geckos told the Squib, that the Akingbehin Report sent the Niyi Idowu - Beckley Abioye group into a deep valley of anxiety and depression as virtually all the candidates of the group with the possible exception of S.O Omodara, publicity secretary aspirant, faced the dire threat of disqualification. For example Beckley Abioye, Chairmanship candidate was held disqualifiable for lack of moral integrity, Titi Osagie Secretaryship candidate was held disqualifiable for inadequate payment of branch dues, Charles Biyi Oguntuga 1st Vice Chairmanship candidate was held disqualifiable for insufficient attendance of branch meetings, A. Ahmed Welfare Secretaryship candidate was held disqualifiable for the possible ineligibility of his seconder, Biyi Oguntuga. Maimuna Esegine 2nd Vice - Chairmanship candidate was held disqualifiable for the possible ineligibility of her nominator A. Ahmed and for alleged insufficient attendance of branch meetings.

Abiola Oketoki Social Secretaryship candidate was held disqualifiable for alleged insufficient attendance of branch meetings.
As things stand, there are two reports emanating from the “headless” Electoral Committee, and sharply contradictory too. The obvious implication of this is that the Electoral Committee, if it can still be called that, is in disarray and as such is not fit to conduct the elections which going the length of the voters’ list holds the strong promise of attracting an unprecedented number of about a thousand strong voters.

Credible news reaching the Squib has it that some concerned elders of the branch are working hard behind the scenes to see that the succession crisis in the bar will not degenerate into the state of consuming the famous Tiger Bar. The maturity and sagacity of the elders on how to contain the situation will certainly be put to the test at the June 2 2008 meeting of the Tigers.

Inspite of the dark clouds on the horizon, there are still few optimists who believe that the Tigers will overcome their problems and hold a successful election come June 2, 2008, to usher in, new leaders of the Tiger Bar.
In the eventuality of such a proposition, the question: who becomes the “chief servant” of the Tigers becomes relevant. From the investigations and interactions of this magazine, Dave Ajetomobi Esq., remains, till date, the candidate most likely to emerge as the new chairman of the Tigers. It appears, that, thanks to the support of certain key associates and loyalists, all grass roots bar politicians, Ajetomobi enjoys a wide spread support base among members of the branch.

The immense goodwill of his associates has clearly rubbed off Ajetomobi’s image. Backed by a highly mobile political machine, Ajetomobi, appears also to be the most personally improved chairmanship candidate, in terms of dress sense, carriage and comportment. While some of his rivals have lost their shine to the stress and toils of the campaigns, Ajetomobi conversely looks more and more burnished by the day and looking the part of a chairman already.

The formidability of his candidacy is revealed by the fact that unlike his rivals, whose campaign strength waned considerably in reaction to the constant uncertainties plaguing the electoral process. Ajemotobi’s campaign team is even working beyond full throttle the nearer June 2, 2008 looms.

In addition, he is a direct beneficiary of the recent political woes of Beckley Abioye, his nearest rival. Since about ten days ago, Abioye has been facing serious integrity challenges as all the three reports of the Electoral Committees, differing as they were, unanimously indicted Abioye, either directly or indirectly as being involved in the forgery of documents, specifically the doctoring of attendance registers of the Ikeja Bar in favour of certain candidates.

In the Interim Report of the Electoral Committee and signed by all the three members, the Committee had this to say of Beckley Abioye.
“The meeting attendance Records and minutes of meetings submitted by the General Secretary have been MANIPULATED in material particulars and DOCTORED in several respects and substantially unreliable for the purposes of our assignment.” (capital Squib’s). “For instance at the open meeting of Wednesday the 14th May 2008, the discrepancies between the actual meeting attendance records and the official minutes were brought to the attention of the General Secretary, he not only admitted the irregularities but also counseled the committee not to rely records submitted to us by his office”.

To make matters worse for Abioye, the allegation of doctoring and manipulation of financial records of the branch was also laid on his door-step by Yinka Farounbi the financial secretary who informed the Adeoluwa Electoral Committee (as it then was) that it was Abioye as General Secretary and Niyi Idowu the chairman who seized the financial records from his custody and tampered with them.

The consequence of all these credible allegations of fraudulent tampering with documents against Abioye is that it has seriously lowered his reputation in the minds of many right thinking members of the association, who no longer consider him a fit and proper person to lead the bar. One aggrieved member told the Squib that “one man who should not be allowed to participate in the election is Beckley Abioye. Even if everybody else is allowed to contest, Abioye should be disallowed. The electoral committee said that they could not rely on the records presented by the man to screen candidates because the records have been tampered with and doctored. Abioye, from the facts at hand is heavily involved in the dirty act, so why should such a person be given the opportunity to lead the bar? As secretary General he has been proved to be a forger you can be sure that if he becomes chairman he will steal the bar blind. In fact the appropriate political sanction against Abioye is to ban him for life from holding any office again in the NBA”.

Invariably in the last one week, the embattled Beckely Abioye has lost a lot of grounds making his challenge to Ajetomobi’s lead considerably weaker.

As for the duo of Niyi Akinmola Esq. and Dele Oloke Esq, even if cleared to run in the elections, their chances of success do not appear too bright. Both have no visible and viable political machinery behind them, relying essentially therefore on the weight of their individual influence and clout to get the top job. This is very doubtful because neither of the duo has enough personal influence to match, not to talk of over whelming the widespread good will the leading candidate Dave Ajetomobi enjoys, courtesy of his group’s extensive networks.

In all the uncertainties of the electoral process and dynamics, and the consequent anxiety two things are however certain, June 2 2008 will come and go, the Heavens will not fall and the Tiger Bar will still remain.

WILL ELECTION CRISIS CRUSH THE TIGER BAR?

These are not the best of times for the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association as her bi-annual ritual of leadership renewal is heading very fast, towards a fiasco.

In fact, the Tiger branch is on the brink of a precipice, no thanks to the escapist antics of a lazy, dithering and obviously cowardly Committee of Election conductors, which the branch, courtesy of a negatively scheming Niyi Idowu administration has entrusted her future to.

On May 5, 2008, the Tiger branch set up a three man Committee in line with her bye-laws to conduct elections into the Executive Committee of the branch in June 2008 when the present incumbents will vacate office.
The three “wise men” saddled with this great responsibility are Taiwo Adeoluwa (called 1986) Rex Onobrakpreya (called 1985) and Gbenga Akingbehin (called 1988). Unfortunately, events have shown that these gentlemen do not have the requisite capacity to see through their hard but noble task.

By a letter dated 20th May, 2008 but which was only delivered on the 23rd May, 2008 to Niyi Idowu Esq., the chairman of the branch, the Electoral Committee gave indication of its unpreparedness to hold the elections as scheduled for June 2 2008. The Committee proposes instead that either the elections be conducted for every available contestant whether qualified under the branch bye-laws to run or not, or that the elections be postponed while a care-taker committee be set-up to run the branch until when elections are held (Please see cover story Exhibit).

In arriving at these rather shocking and disturbing positions, the Electoral Committee claimed that they were in possession of enough materials to disqualify all the candidates if the bye-laws were to be strictly followed.
According to the Electoral Committee, the records of payments of branch dues and that of the attendance of monthly meetings by members that are crucial to verifying the qualification of aspirants to contest have been so badly manipulated that they are unreliable tools to use.
Said the Electoral Committee:

(a) “should we rely on both the Attendance and Financial Records (knowing fully well that same have been doctored) to sustain or disqualify any candidate? Or

(b) “should we close our eyes to all the discrepancies and allow the candidates to contest, thereby disregarding Section 10 of the Bye-laws which makes provision for qualification.?

We wish to draw attention to Section 10 (1) (a) of our Bye-laws and the requirement of moral capacity and competency of the candidates for election. The activities of most of the contestants, the language employed on their co-contestants during the public sittings of our Committee and even the issue of sworn affidavits in lieu of payment receipts would violate the true intendment of our Bye-laws. There are enough materials to disqualify all the candidates if the bye-laws were to be strictly construed.”

The question is, how valid are the contentions of the Adeoluwa Electoral Committee?

In the sober judgement of this magazine, the Electoral Committee is guilty of exaggerating the problems at hand, so as to avoid the responsibility of doing their work.

Right from the on-set, it can be fairly said that the Committee was not actually fit for the task given to it by the Ikeja Bar.

Even though it was appointed on the 5th May, 2008 to hold elections on June 2, 2008, less than a month away then, the Committee held her first meeting only on the 12th May, 2008 and just for about one hour.
Even at that point, the Squib can authoritatively reveal that the Committee was already feeling intimidated by the arduous prospects of screening candidates for eligibility and conducting elections.

At that first meeting, upon receiving a so called deluge of petitions and with promise of more of such to come, the chairman of the Electoral Committee, Taiwo Adeoluwa was heard voicing his opinion in public at the secretariat of the Ikeja branch that he was uncomfortable and shocked with the tension which the impending political contest had generated in the Ikeja Branch. The solution according to the chairman, in his personal opinion was that all the aspirants whatever qualification defects they might have should be allowed to contest.

This perspective was also shared by Rex Onobrakpeya Esq., the ordinary member of the Electoral Committee, who although the most senior of the three-man Committee curiously elected not to chair the Committee.
Analysts wondered at the expression of shock and disturbance of both Messrs Adeoluwa and Onobrakpeya at the so-called volatile election tension said to have gripped the Ikeja Bar, because such tension is a normal election year occurrence.

On the 14th May, 2008, the Electoral Committee held her second meeting - this time with contestants to consider pending petitions. But, even before the meeting sat, the Chairman, Taiwo Adeoluwa was heard opining freely, too freely in public perhaps that all the parties are guilty of doctoring records.

Expectedly, at the meeting of 14th May, 2008, sparks flew between petitioners and candidates petitioned against. But it was nothing physical or out of hand, but the intensity of the presentation and defence of different contentions and positions by candidates only worked to unnerve the Electoral Committee members more, particularly, the Chairman, Taiwo Adeoluwa and Rex Onobrakpeya.

Observers and activists of the Ikeja Bar view the fearfulness of the Electoral Committee members as a direct result of their superficial relationship with the vigorous Tiger bar. There may be some merit in this position. The most seemingly stable member of the Committee is the Secretary, Gbenga Akingbehin, a University of Lagos lecturer who happens to be, of the trio, the most familiar with the Ikeja Bar.

Rex Onobrakpeya is an on and off attendee and participant of the Ikeja Bar meetings and activites, while the Electoral Committee Chairman, is simply a neophyte bar-man. The day he was nominated into the Electoral committee, he was, to many members, like a visitor from Jupiter. Many members simply wondered who the gentleman was. Neither his face nor name was known to many Tigers, even up till now.

In maintaining a position that the records of the association are so badly tampered with, that they could not be used for verifying the qualification of contestants, analysts contend that the Electoral Committee could not be right.

Although the third meeting of the Electoral Committee of 19th May, 2008, with Beckley Abioye, the General Secretary and Yinka Farounbi, the Financial Secretary who are the record keepers of the meeting attendance and branch due payments of the branch respectively, revealed that there are discrepancies in the records, the discrepancies cannot be said to be so pervasive and thick enough for the records to be un-usable.
There are valid reasons for this contention:

1. Petitions did not lie against all the contestants, who in all, number twenty and are as follows:

Chairman
1. Dave Ajetomobi
2. Dele Oloke
3. Niyi Akinmola
4. Beckley Abioye

1st Vice-Chairman
5. Dare Akande
6. Charles Biyi Oguntuga

2nd Vice-Chairman
7. Maimuna Esegine
8. Terry Adeniji Badmus
9. Olufemi O. Dafosta

General Secretary
10. Titilayo Osagie
11. Isa Mohammed Buhari

Assistant General Secretary
12. Gbenga Ajayi


Financial Secretary
13. Leye Omitola

Welfare Secretary
14. Chinwe Joy Nwadike
15. A. Ahmed

Publicity Secretary
16. S.O. Omodara
17. Lateef Abdusalam

Social Secretary
18. E.R.A Otobo
19. Abiola Oketoki

Treasurer
20. S.O Adesina

As at today, all properly submitted pending petitions with the electoral committee are as follows:

Petitioners Vs Respondents Status

Dave Ajetomobi Vs Niyi Akinmola Chairman
Dare Akande Vs Charles Oguntuga 1st V.C.
Charles Oguntuga Vs Dare Akande 1st V.C.
Terry Badmus Adeniji Vs Maimuna Esigene 2nd V.C.
Isa Mohammed Buhari Vs Titilayo Osagie Gen. Sec.
Chinwe Joy Vs A. Ahmed Welfare Sec.
Lateef Abdusalam Vs S.O.Omodara Publicity Sec.
E.R.A. Otobo Vs Abiola Oketoki Social Sec.

Clearly, only about half of the candidates have petitions (even cross petitions too) against each other and only in about six offices.
So, in the light of the above facts why would the Electoral Committee sweepingly and peremptorily hold that they cannot hold elections and that all the candidates are fit for disqualification?

For the purpose of further clarity, it will be shown shortly that for a reasonable and industrious Electoral Committee, there are enough reasons and basis to find candidates who are actually qualified to vie for posts and to hold elections for them.

In the post of chairman, there are four candidates. There is no petition or counter petition against Beckley Abioye and Dele Oloke. Same can be said of Dave Ajetomobi.

According to the Committee, in a chat with the SQUIB on the 23rd May, 2008, even though Abioye has no petition against him, he lacks the moral right to vie for chairman being so heavily involved in the falsification of records of attendance of branch meetings. While this allegation is quite true against Abioye, it is unfair to allege that he falsified records against every contestant and that all his records are manifestly unreliable.

In fact, evidence so far only showed that he added to the attendance marks of certain contestants like Biyi Oguntuga, Biola Oketoki, Maimuna Esegine, especially in the 2006/2007 year but there is no evidence or proof that he reduced the eligibility quotient of any candidate as per attendance of meetings, except possibly of Olufemi Dafosta Osinowo. Even at this, the Committee did not find the time or the trouble to take up the secretary on each of the records he wrote for each candidate.

In fact, at his “trial” before the Electoral Committee on the 19th May, 2008, the Electoral Committee Chairman apparently filled with disgust, impatiently closed the case against the secretary just after only one case of fraud padding of record of meeting attendance with respect to the records of Biyi Oguntuga a 1st Vice - Chairman candidate was established against Beckley Abioye. It was like a case of “since you were fraudulent here, you must be fraudulent elsewhere and everywhere else.” To the Squib, this is an unfair and generalised position to take against Abioye.

Candidate Dele Oloke has no petition against him but the Abioye report indicted him as being in attendance of branch meetings only six times in the 2006/2007 year. Before the Committee, Oloke disagreed with this claim but had not tangible proof that his records were unfavourably altered by Abioye.

Yet, the Committee appeared swayed to his side against the embattled Abioye but yet would not clear Oloke for the election.
As for candidate Niyi Akinmola, the petition against him from Dave Ajetomobi alleged and with concrete proof that his seconder, Biyi Oguntuga was not qualified to second him because of inadequate attendance of branch meetings.

So, at the chairmanship level, the only seemingly qualified candidate is Dave Ajetomobi. This was because as at Friday the 16th May, 2008 which was held by the Electoral Committee to be the last day for submission of petitions, there was no petition against Dave Ajetomobi and so, none was treated by the Electoral Committee on 19th May, 2008. Yet the electoral committee refused to clear him for the election
Curiously, on Wednesday the 21st May, 2008, several days after submission of petitions had lapsed, the chairman of the Electoral Committee received the petition of Niyi Akinmola against Dave Ajetomobi and appeared to be treating the unproven document as valid by its mere belated existence.

At the level of the vice-chairmanship (1st and 2nd), the petitions basically are on just two main issues:
(a) lack of sufficient attendance of bar meetings.
(b) non-payment of branch dues.

Whereas (a) above affect both Charles Oguntuga (1st Vice Chairmanship aspirant), and, Maimuna Esigene (2nd Vice Chairmanship aspirant) with credible and clear proof of the allegations.
(b) above affects Dare Akande Esq. with no proof of same, yet, candidates Terry Adeniji Badmus (2nd Vice-Chairmanship aspirant) and Dare Akande (1st Vice-Chairmanship aspirant) were not cleared to run for the elections.

At the General Secretary level, candidate Isa Mohammed Buhari has no petition against him and the Electoral Committee has not found any fault in him, yet the Committee did not clear him for the election. His only opponent, Titilayo Osagie (Mrs), clearly weighed down by the allegation of inadequate payment of branch dues and who has no constitutionally acceptable proof otherwise ordinarily stands disqualified and so elections ought to be conducted for only Isa Mohammed Buhari in that category. But the electoral committee kept mum on the Osagie’s case when the lady put up her rather spirited defence to explain away her predicament.

In the case of the Social Secretary, there is no petition against candidate Emmanuel Otobo and the Committee has no complaint against him on any ground. Surprisingly, the Adeoluwa Committee says that this candidate is not qualified to run.

Otobo’s only opponent, Abiola Oketoki has qualification challenges against her on the two grounds of non-payment of branch dues and insufficient attendance of branch meetings. While the Committee found out that the lady may have possible defence to the first charge, (non-payment of branch dues), there was no escape route for her in the second charge, as the published attendance list of members at meetings thoroughly exposed her as regularly absent from meetings of the branch for most of the 2006/2007 year. So, a candidate like this should stand disqualified.

As for the Publicity Secretary slot, there is no petition against Lateef Abdusalam and as the Electoral Committee finds no fault with the candidate, it has no reason or right to claim that he is not eligible to contest in the election.

Abdusalam’s opponent, S.O.A Omodara, is tackled by his opponent on the twin issues of non-payment of branch dues. Since the Committee was claiming that the records of the Financial Secretary was tampered with, in this regard, it ought to have determined by whom and for whose benefits. If there were doubts in the matter, such should be resolved in favour of candidate Omodara.

As regards the allegation of insufficient attendance of branch meetings, the Committee ought to have looked into the allegation and if it is found that Secretary Abioye inflated the attendance records of candidate Omodara to enable him to qualify for contest, then he should be disqualified on that score. But if the reverse was found to be true then he should be allow to run.

On the Welfare Secretary’s slot, there are only two candidates - Chinwe Joy Nwadike and A. Ahmed. While Chinwe falls short of the required number of meeting attendance as per the Abioye report and so should be disqualified if the report is found valid (note that candidate Joy Nwadike has not complained against the Abioye report), the allegation against Ahmed (failure to pay adequate practicing fees), has not been looked into by the committee to determined his validity or otherwise.

As for Leye Omitola, the sole candidate for Financial Secretary’s, there is no petition against him and there is no evidence of his violating any qualifying standards yet the electoral committee refused to clear him for the election and this should be cleared by the Committee.

The situation is almost the same for Gbenga Ajayi, the sole candidate for Assistant General Secretary.

The only other solo candidate, S.O.A Adesina in the Treasurer position has no petition against him, but the Abioye Report indicted him for insufficient attendance of branch meetings. If this claim is true, then Adesina should be disqualified but the electoral committee has not even verify the Abioye report on Adesina.

From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that there are candidates that have no qualification problems at all, contrary to the assertion of the Electoral Committee in their letter of 20th May, 2008 to the Chairman of the NBA, Ikeja Branch.

In the humble view of this magazine, the only way forward is for the elections to hold. The Adeoluwa Committee should be made to do its job or resign immediately for incompetence and gross dereliction of duty.

A critical appraisal of the mood and conduct of the Electoral Committee make it reasonable for people to suspect it of mischief and plain bone-laziness. Else how could a committee saddled with such a grave responsibility such as conducting a bar election condemn the entire political players and actors without providing specific data against each candidate but rely heavily on sweeping statements, generalisation, mass condemnation and blackmail. The Adeoluwa Electoral Committee should be told that their job is not a piece of cake and that they should find the courage and grit to do the right thing, instead of looking for scape-goats.
Section 18 (1a-d) of the bye-laws of the Ikeja bar provides for what to do where offices are vacant after elections to the effect that where all the Executive offices are not filled after elections such offices are to be filled by the members of the new Executive Committee intact who choose appointees by themselves from members of the branch.
This is another useful road for the Electoral Committee to steer the NBA Ikeja to, if it finds the courage to conduct the June 2 2008 elections. As amply demonstrated above, there are:
(a) sole candidates in some offices without any qualification blemishes
(b) offices where only one or two in their class have no qualification blemishes

Elections should be conducted for such candidates while those who cannot qualify should be disqualified.

From credible reports reaching the Squib, Niyi Idowu the out-going chairman of the Ikeja Bar is acutely embarrassed by the letter of the Adeoluwa Committee of 20 May 2004. Geckos who were present when the chairman received the letter from Taiwo Adeoluwa Esq. the chairman of the electoral committee told the Squib that upon reading the letter Idowu broke out in cold sweat.

This is understandable. The contents of the letter is a damnation of not only his regime but a potent rubbishing of his political godson Beckley Abioye who he so desperately wanted as his successor, as a political fraudster. Only a few observers of the Tiger branch has much sympathy for Idowu however. He was heavily instrumental in his capacity as the presiding officer of the May 5 2008 meeting of the Tigers to the constitution of the Adeoluwa committee; most of whom are strangers to the Ikeja Bar and have no time or the much needed sacrificial disposition and courage to discharge the onerous burdens of election conduct placed on them and as such could not stand to be counted when it mattered most to do the right thing no matter whose ox was gored.

After heedlessly breaking faith with his political family which made him and now supported by a company of largely inexperienced and minimally influential underlings, which a political commentator has dubbed a “rag-tag army” in his quest to determine who his successor would be, Idowu may well end his tenure on the infamous record of being the first chairman of the Tiger bar who came to the ‘throne’ peacefully, popularly and gloriously but left in shame and in chaos.

ILLEGALITY OR LEGALITY: WHICH WAY WILL THE TIGERS GO IN THE JUNE 2008 ELECTIONS?

It is no longer news that the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association is preparing to elect new hands to man her leadership. The incumbent Niyi Idowu administration will expire came June 2 2008.

But who will be the new leaders of the Tiger branch? The answer to that question lies not only with the electorate, but also on the conductors of the election.
For this year’s election, a three – man electoral committee to wit, Taiwo Adeoluwa Esq. Rex Onobrakpeya and Akin Akingbehin a.k.a idea’ was constituted amidst a lot of furore at the meeting of the Tigers of 4th May 2008.
Since her stormy and unavoidably political birth, the Electoral Committee has had no rest. Because of the sensitive nature of the assignment on her hands, every move, act or declaration of the Committee has been subject of all manners of speculation, and criticisms.
For example the very first decision of the E.C to wit to make Taiwo Adeoluwa Esq. (called to the bar in 1986) the chairman of the E.C ahead of Rex Onobrakpeya Esq. (called to the bar in 1985) raised serious suspicions in some quarters-that the ascendancy of Adeoluwa to the post of chairman above his senior colleague – Onobrakpeya was to give Adeoluwa a sure –foot hold to bend the electoral rules for the candidates supported by Niyi Idowu Esq. the incumbent chairman of the NBA.
Such quarters refused to believe that Adeoluwa, a financial supporter of the Niyi Idowu administration but who hardly participate otherwise in Ikeja bar affairs was not summoned by the chairman to help the fortunes of Beckley Abioye, whom he (Idowu) was sponsoring to succeed him as chairman.
Clearly the E.C has a huge task in her hands to conduct a credible election. As at press time, according to Mr. Akingbehin, the Secretary of the E.C. there was no less than ten petitions by and against various candidates in the election pending before her.
This is an unprecedented development. At least in the past twelve years of the Tiger branch, there was never such a wide rash of petitions before any E.C. Incidentally there had never been a time too that four persons would be contesting the chairmanship of the branch.
Squib’s investigation reveal that the most important question before the E.C and which may even tear the body apart is “whether or not to allow ALL contestants who have submitted nomination papers to contest regardless whether they qualify to so contest under the electoral guidelines of the bye – laws of the branch?
Of the four chairmanship contestants, only one, to wit Dele Oloke, appears to be clamoring for blanket clearance of all contestants irrespective of whether they meet the eligibility requirements of the bye-laws as candidates or not. Dele Oloke, who is bearing the cross of a negative eligibility report, is of the opinion that the rules be ignored. At a meeting the E.C held with all aspirants on Monday 12th May 2008, Oloke ingeniously submitted that “our bye laws is dead and as such should not be followed”. Curiously however in his further arguments Oloke was heard relying on sections of the bye-laws which moments ago he had declared dead.!
At the said meeting of 12th May, some of the contestants levied accusation against their opponents and some members of the outgoing executive committee, particularly Mr. Beckley Abioye, the incumbent General Secretary and Mr. Yinka Farounbi the Financial Secretary.
For example Mrs. Titi Osagie whose opponent Isa Mohammed Buhari alleged to have under paid her branch dues for year 2006-2007, claimed in her defence that it was Farounbi the Financial Secretary, who was her Principal in Chambers in 2006 who “deliberately under paid for me so that at a time like this, it can be used against me”. The lady went on to add that:
“But when I discovered this, I went and paid up the balance (N500:00) and collected the receipt. Unfortunately as I was going home, robbers attacked me in the bus and went away with my purse which contained the receipt”
While Mrs. Osagie was at her story, a gecko perching by the door was heard asking another gecko whether the lady ever studied creative writing at the University!
It appears that many of the petitions pertaining to the issue of attendance of the branch meetings up to the required level, challenges the veracity of the report of the incumbent General Secretary on the matter.
It would be recalled that in the last edition of the Squib, the Abioye report was thoroughly exposed as a document that told many lies in many parts.
At the meeting of the 12th May, Abioye himself in his capacity as a chairmanship candidate was present. In his brief defence of himself Abioye told the committee that they should not rely on the attendance lists which his office published and attached to minutes of the monthly meetings of the branch and circulated to members but rather should rely on the attendance notebooks which was in his care but now submitted to the committee.
When Abioye gave this advice, many people wondered whether the published attendance lists were not prepared from the attendance notebooks he was asking the E.C to rely on
According to geckos, the hero of the meeting was no other person than S.O.A Adesina Esq, the solo candidate for treasurer.
Unlike so many other candidates who were declared by the Abioye report as having fallen short of the minimum of 7 meeting attendance requirement, and were rooting for blanket eligibility for all candidates, Adesina declared that if the Electoral Committee finds out that he did not make the minimum requirement on attendance of branch meetings as stated by the Abioye report, he should be disqualified! A loud, widespread applause greeted this noble declaration.
At the end if the meeting, the E.C declared that it would investigate all petitions before it and that in that wise it would be meeting with both the General Secretary and Financial Secretary of the branch to clear themselves of the various allegations of falsification of records made against them.
Discreet investigations by the Squib reveals that the E.C., except care is taken, may split up. While the chairman, Taiwo Adeoluwa has expressed “my personal opinion” to all the contestants at the meeting of 12th May 2008 that it is best to allow everybody to contest because “there are too many petitions and too much tension” the secretary, Akin Akingbehin is of the mind that the proper thing to do is to follow the electoral guidelines.
However it appears that the chairman has expanded his view on the conduct of the election. Said Adeoluwa to the Squib on Friday 16th May 2008, “Our mission is to hold a credible election. We shall not close our eyes to the bye-laws. We are lawyers but at the same time we shall not close our eyes to the realities on the ground. The reality on the ground is that two (power) blocks are ‘fighting’. It appears one block has tampered with the records of attendance, while the other has tampered with the records of payment of dues. We shall look into all these allegations thoroughly.
I want to assure everybody that I am not in the E.C to do my one’s bidding. And anybody who is nursing any such hopes has failed”.
Mr. Rex Onobrakpeya, the third member of the committee spoke in like vein too. Speaking to the Squib on Saturday the 17th May 2008, Onobrakpeya said: “I chose not to be chairman of the Electoral Committee on personal grounds, even though Mr. Adeoluwa wanted me to be. I have no interest in anybody becoming anything. My own concern is that the Tiger Bar should not go into limbo and lose its Tiger identity.
I do not believe in speculations. People should wait for the outcome of our investigation. As at today, the out-going executive is accused of doctoring records. We shall investigate the claims dispassionately and then decide”
In his own view, Akin Akingbehin the E.C secretary strongly believes in the propriety of following the bye-laws in conducting the elections. According to Akingbehin in his chat with the Squib on Saturday 17th May 2008 “My own position is that our bye-laws should be followed. Our committee was set up to conduct elections and assess the eligibility of candidates and that we shall do. If we have a report from the Exco concerning eligibility of candidates, we must give it a presumption of regularity. But where there is a challenge to the report, we have to look at the challenge. If it is unmeritorious, we throw it out. But if it has merit, we uphold it. There is no big deal in disqualifying ineligible candidates from the elections. That is the law and it has been done before. In the 2006 elections some candidates were disqualified because they were found not to have satisfied the requirements governing the contest, I think particularly on the issue of attendance of monthly meetings. The disqualified candidates were ladies and their supporters even carried placards in protest, but nobody minded them because you can’t fight the law with sentiments.
I didn’t believe we, as Electoral Committee, have power on our own to discard the bye-laws of the branch. If the matter is referred to the-whole house and they say we should abandon the bye-laws in conducting the elections, then we can do it.
But if my colleagues in the E.C say that on our own, we should ignore the bye-laws to conduct the election I will honourably tender my resignation letter. I will not participate in such a thing”.

SQUIB’S POSITION:
There ought to be no debate about the conduct of the elections being in line with the bye-laws of the branch. That position should be taken for granted because it is the right and correct position to take. A professional body such as the NBA sets a very bad example to the society if she indicates that it is acceptable to distance itself from legality in the conduct of her own affairs.
Secondly the intendment of the makers of the bye-laws, was to ensure that only-committed members of the branch occupy her leadership cadre. Such a noble idea (the requirement of regular attendance of branch meetings and payment of branch dues not only for election candidates but also their nominators and seconders could only be to screen out diffident or irregular spectator-type, or nominal members from leadership cadre of the branch) would be defeated however if the eligibility rules are discarded in the conduct of the branch election. In such an eventuality, the greater the chance of the branch having on its leadership unsuitable characters lacking in knowledge and experience of bar activities and conduct becomes very high.
Thirdly where the E.C puts her feet down on the side of legality, a strong and clear message is sent to all members that only those who can sacrifice their time and money for the branch (by attending meetings regularly and supporting the branch financially) will be allowed in the corridor of the branch’s power. Thus adventurers and such unstable characters are shut out from gaining control of the branch and ruin it.

After all said and done, which path will the Taiwo Adeoluwa Electoral Committee toe in discharging her duties? Is it the path of legality or will it go the way of illegality?
The whole world is watching and waiting.

JUNE 2008 IKEJA BAR ELECTIONS: WHO WINS, WHO LOSES?

The most vibrant of all the branches of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Ikeja branch a.k.a “Tiger Branch” is in the breathless grip of a perfervid election fever. The election in question is the General Elections of the branch, slated for June 2 2008.
The inner and outer walls of the secretariat of the Tigers tell the story vividly as many contestants have turned them (the walls) into a huge canvas to paint their political portraits, via posters and bills.
As at the last official count courtesy of a curious and controversial list released on Wednesday 7th May 2008 by the out-going Secretary-General, Beckley Abioye, there are no less than twenty aspirants in the race for 10 posts.
Already petitions are flying against the Secretary-General, Beckley Abioye, who incidentally is also an aspirant in the race for Chairman, accusing him and the incumbent Chairman Niyi Idowu of fraudulent practices in the presentation of the list of candidates, a report which under the branch’s bye-laws serves as data which the electoral committee uses to screen aspirants for eligibility as candidates qualified to participate in the elections.
Under the branch bye-laws, a candidate to qualify to run in an election must be at:
(a) at least 5 years at the bar
(b) must pay his practicing fees as at when due for two years preceding the election
(c) must pay his branch dues for the two years preceding the elections
(d) must have attended the monthly meetings of the branch at least seven-times in each of the two years before the election.
A report indicating a compliance or non-compliance with these provisions of the Bye-Laws on the part of the contestants is made out by Secretary-General and to be pasted (made public) before the constitution of the Electoral Committee, a committee which is set up at the last month of the branch year which starts from July of an election year to May of the following year, a total period of eleven months.
Following complaints of bias and fraud against the preparer of the report, to wit Beckley Abioye, the Squib under took a scrutiny of the said report with the aid of geckos in high places and materials (minutes of Ikeja meetings for July 2006 to May 2007) supplied by the General Secretary himself and found out that the allegations against Abioye the Secretary were not specious. While the record exposes the eligibility inadequacies of certain candidates believed not to be in the camp of the Secretary, the same records covered the ‘sins’ of certain other candidates with false data.
As earlier indicated for year July 2006 to May 2007, the Secretary gave out minutes of the monthly meetings, eleven in all. All the minutes were adopted at the meetings, but only eight of them have attached, lists of members in attendance. The minutes of monthly meetings without these lists of attendance are for July 2006, March 2007 and May 2007.
The implication of this is that there are open records of attendance for 8 months while the records for the other three months are in special custody of the Secretary and so is not open to general scrutiny. We call these the hidden records.
SQUIB FINDINGS:
(1) CANDIDATE GBENGA AJAYI (ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL). The Abioye record indicates that Ajayi attended the 2006/2007 year meetings for 9 times. Squib discovers that in the ‘open’ records, Ajayi attended 6 times (August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007). To make the 9 minutes recorded for him, Ajayi must have been present in the three other ‘hidden’ months (July 2006, March 2007, and May 2007).

(2) CANDIDATE S.O.A. ADESINA (TREASURER). The Abioye report showed he attended the 2006/2007 meeting, 6 times. Squib discovers that in the ‘open’ records Adesina attended only 4 times. (December 2006, January 2007, February 2007, and April 2007). To achieve the 6 meetings recorded for him, Adesina must have attended at least two of the three months with ‘hidden’ records.

(3) CANDIDATE LEYE OMITOLA (FINANCIAL SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited him with 9 meetings attendance of the 2006/2007 year. The Squib discovers that in the open records that Omitola attended 7 times (August 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007, April 2007). To make the 9 sittings recorded for him, Omitola must have attended two of the other month with ‘hidden’ records.

(4) CANDIDATE ABIOLA OKETOKI (SOCIAL SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited her with 8 meetings attendance of the 2006/2007 year. The Squib discovers via the open records of attendance, the candidate, known to be a special political darling of Secretary Abioye did not attend any of the meetings at all. Even if the candidate attended all the three months of 2006/2007 year with hidden records, she would still not have made the required number of 7 meetings attendance.

(5) CANDIDATE EMMANUAL OTOBO (SOCIAL SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited him with 8 meetings attendance of the 2006/2007 year meeting. But Squib discovers that even in the months with ‘open’ records, Otobo attended meetings 8 times (August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007). It is rather inconceivable to imagine that a consistent meeting attender like Otobo would not be present in any of the 3 months with ‘hidden’ records

(6) CANDIDATE A. AHMED (WELFARE SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited the candidate with 9 attendance of the 2006/2007 year meetings. The Squib discovers that in the months with open records, Ahmed attended 7 times (August 2006, September 2006). To make the credited 9 meetings sittings Ahmed must have attended at least two of the three meetings with hidden records.

(7) CANDIDATE CHINWE JOY (WELFARE SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited her with 9 attendance in the 2006/2007 year. But the Squib findings show that the candidate attended only 5 meetings (September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006and February 2007). Even if the candidate attended all the 3 months with ‘hidden’ attendance records, she couldn’t have made 9 meetings, although she would qualify, since only seven meeting attendance is required

(8) CANDIDATE S. O. OMODARA (PUBLICITY SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited him with 9 attendance in the 2006/2007 year meeting but the Squib discovers that the candidate only attended 4 times (August 2006, November 2006, January 2007, April 2007). And even if he had attended the three meetings with ‘hidden’ records, his attendance would have only been 7, which qualifies him anyway.

(9) CANDIDATE LATEEF ABDUSALAM (PUBLICITY SECRETARY). The Abioye report credited him with 7 appearances in the 2006/2007 year meetings but The Squib discovers that in the “open records” the candidate only attended five meetings (August 2006, September 2006 December 2006, February 2007 and April 2007). So if the candidate attended only two of the other three meetings with hidden records, then he would easily make the 7 meeting marks credited to him.

(10) CANDIDATE TITILAYO OSAGIE (SECRETARY GENERAL). The Abioye report credited her with 9 appearances in the 2006/2007 year meetings. The Squib finds that the open records showed that she attended 8 times (August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007, April 2007). To make the 9 attendance credited to her, the candidate must have attended at least one of the three other meetings with “hidden” attendance records.

(11) CANDIDATE ISA BUHARI (SECRETARY GENERAL). The Abioye report credited him with 9 appearances in the 2006/2007 year meetings. But the open records show that the candidate attended 7 meetings (August 2006, September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006 January 2007, February 2007) which qualified him at any rate, whether or not he attended the other three meetings with hidden attendance records.

(12) CANDIDATE MAIMUNA ESEGINE (2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited her with 8 appearances in the 2006/2007 year meetings but try as hard as the Squib did, the candidate name could not be found any where in the open attendance records (8 months). Thus even if she attended the three meeting with hidden “attendance” records, she would still not have the 7 meetings bench mark.

(13) CANDIDATE TERRY ADENIJI (2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 8 attendance in the 2006/2007 year meetings. But Squib perusal shows that the candidate by the ‘open’ attendance records attended 6 meetings September 2006, October 2006, December 2006, January 2007 February 2007, and April 2007). Adeniji would meet the 8 attendance mark credited to him if he attended at least 2 of the 3 meetings with hidden records.

(14) CANDIDATE OLUFEMI DAFOSTA OSINOWO (2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 3 attendance in the 2006/2007 year meetings. Squib however finds that he made only 4 meetings in the ‘open’ attendance records (September 2006, December 2006, February 2007 and April 2007). To reach the 7 meetings bench mark, Osinowo must be recorded as present in the three other meetings with hidden attendance records.

(15) CANDIDATE DARE AKANDE (1ST VICE-CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 10 attendance in the 2006/2007 year meetings. The Squibs finds that in the open attendance records, Akande attended 6 times (August 2006, September 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007 and April 2007). Curiously even though the October 2006 minutes recorded the participation of Akande, the attached list of attendees did not include his name. Akande must have attended the branch meetings with ‘hidden records’ to make the 10 meeting attendance recorded for him

(16) CANDIDATE CHARLES OGUNTUGA (1ST VICE-CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 8 meetings attendance of the 2006/2007 year meetings. The Squib however finds that the gentleman came for monthly meetings in that period, only 2 times (February 2007, and April 2007). This is known through the open attendance lists. Even if the candidate attended the other three meetings with hidden attendance records, he would still not have made the 7 meetings bench mark required for contest eligibility.

(17) CANDIDATE BECKLEY ABIOYE (CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 11 meeting attendance of the 2006/2007 year meetings. That means he attended all the meetings, an untrue fact. Open record of attendance shows that the candidate attended 7 of the 8 possible meeting. He was definitely absent at the November 2006 meeting, which minutes was taken and franked by A. Ahmed esq the Assistant Secretary General, hence the candidates name was missing in the list of EXCO members in attendance. Even if the Candidate attended all the three other meetings with ‘hidden’ report, he cannot make the 11 meeting bench-mark. Conversely even if he did not attend, he is already qualified to contest.

(18) CANDIDATE NIYI AKINMOLA (CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 8 meeting attendance in 2006/2007 year meetings. The open attendance records show that he was present in 7 meetings (September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007, and April 2007). The candidate must have attended at least one of the other three months with ‘hidden’ attendance record to have made the 8 meeting mark. At any rate he qualifies to run.

(19) CANDIDATE DAVE AJETOMOBI (CHAIRMAN). The Abioye report credited him with 10 attendance of the 2006/2007 year meetings. The open attendance records show that the candidate was present in 7 meetings (September 2006, October 2006, November 2006, December 2006, January 2007, February 2007, and April 2007). This ordinarily qualifies him to run. He must have attended the three other meetings with hidden attendance records to have made 10 meetings attendance mark.

(20) CANDIDATE DELE OLOKE (CHAIRMAN). The Abioye reports credited him 6 attendance in the 2006/2007 year meetings. By the open attendance records, the Squib finds that the candidate only came to meetings four times (September 2006, October 2006, December 2006, January 2007). For Oloke to have been otherwise credited with 6 attendance mark, it must be that he attended at least two of the three meetings with ‘hidden’ attendance records. Either way the candidate does not qualify to contest.

Presently nobody knows what the stance of the Electoral Committee (EC) headed by Taiwo Adeoluwa esq chairman, with Akin, Akingbehin esq as secretary and Rex Onakprebeya as member would take on the eligibility of candidates to run in the elections.
However the Squib has it on good authority that candidates who have problems satisfying qualification indices are already making re-presentations to the E.C members to close their eyes to the rules and “allow everybody to contest”.
On the other hand, there are those calling for the Electoral committee to follow the constitution and due process in the discharge of their duties to avoid rubbishing the image of the branch and limiting the chances of confusion and controversy. The pattern of behaviour of the E.C in the conduct of the elections would have been more predictable if the outgoing chairman of the branch Niyi Idowu esq had had his way fully at the 5th May meeting of the Tigers during the nomination exercise of the members of the E.C.
Following a set, clear plan not to allow persons opposed to the candidateture of his own chairmanship candidate Beckley Abioye, to make any nomination into the 3 man E.C, his opponents shrewdly and almost magically slipped past him and with his consent to have an input in the E.C.
As things stand, except fairness and adherence to the provisions of the branch bye-laws are followed, the E.C itself may implode causing crisis in the branch. Contestants opposed to the Niyi Idowu group are watching with keen interest what the E.C would be up to, especially its leadership, believed in many quarters to have been hand-picked by Niyi Idowu to achieve certain ends.
The parade of contestants clearly shows that even now factionalised into about three parts, the dominant political caucus in the Ikeja bar remains the Progressive Bar Forum. For all the offices, they have supplied virtually all the candidates
In the chairmanship race for example, at least three of the four contestants, Dave Ajetomobi, Niyi Akinmola, and Beckley Abioye are clear PBF elements while the fourth person, Dele Oloke can also fairly contend that he is or at least was once a PBFite.
Dele Oloke esq is a veteran contestant, an Abraham Lincon of sorts in political post odessey. In year 2002 he contested the 1st Vice-Chairman slot and lost very narrowly (by one vote) to Hya Osahon Ihenyen. In 2004 he contested the same post with Niyi Idowu esq and was trounced. In 2006, the hardy political animal vied for the Chairmanship of the branch with Niyi Idowu esq, who was nominated by his then political caucus to step into the chairmanship post. Again Niyi Idowu had the upper hand with a landslide margin of victory
Now in 2008, Oloke is out there again in the ring. Can he succeed? Optimists and sympathizers of the Oloke cause think, the man may be lucky this time around. They hang their hopes on the division in the PBF family calculating that if the PBF candidates wear themselves out in ferocious attacks, Oloke may just gain a slim majority to take the crown.
But realistically speaking can Oloke comes out tops even in the face of the fractured behemoth of the PBF? The answer may very well be in the negative. For one Oloke may not be allowed to contest. There appears to be legitimate grounds to disqualify him as indicated in the report on candidates for the elections.
Secondly Oloke’s campaign for the high office was the last to take off, almost as an after-thought, thereby yielding quite a lot of grounds to his “early-birds” rivals.
Thirdly even as factionalised as they are, the PBF can hardly be trusted to leave any substantial morsels of votes for Oloke to gobble-such is their reach and persistent networking.
Fourthly, it would appear that strictly in his own, Oloke, although a comfortable looking and well dressed individual, does not have enough charm factor to woo a large number of people to his side. The reason is simple-the frank, almost too-outspoken Oloke is easily (and may be wrongly) perceived as caustic, temperamental and arrogant individual by many members.
Another chairmanship candidate to watch is Niyi Akinmola. A foundation member of the inner ‘family caucus’ of the Progressive Bar Forum, his emergence as a chairmanship candidate this time around is a bit of a surprise to many watchers of the political scene.
A former financial secretary under the Adekunle Ojo administration and the out-going Second Vice-Chairman, Akinmola is not without some experience in bar activism. Why he decided to break from his political family, a group of which he is a foundation member remains a mystery of sort. Stranger still was his decision to go for the chairmanship almost ‘solo’. In leaving his family, Akinmola touts himself to would be voters as a truly independent candidate out to make positive change.
But he has been unable to answer why he alone of his former comrades is an impeccable saint while the rest are devils and sinners.
Squib investigations show that the lack of a cadre or structure support for his candidacy may have forced him into either a secret alliance with the Niyi Idowu group to step down for Beckley Abioye at an opportuned moment. A shrewd study of the report on candidates submitted by Beckley Abioye as Secretary General revealed that a relationship exist between the duo. Conspicuously left absent in the Abioye report are the names of the nominators and seconders of the candidates, contrary to the bye-laws. Funny enough the particulars of these unstated nominators and seconders, such as their year of call, payment of practicing fees etc were given. This curious arrangement has a reason-to prevent the ordinary members of the branch to have a glimpse into the secret and special relationships between some candidates and their so called rivals.
For example Beckley Abioye according to the report was called to the Bar 15th December 1993, his ‘unknown’ nominator was also called to the Bar in 15th December 1993.
Interestingly Niyi Akinmola, one of his rivals was stated to be called to the bar on 15th December 1993, and also his own nominator was also called to the bar in December 1993! Even a villager knows that four added to four can only be eight. For good measure this magazine can reveal that the unstated seconder of aspirant Beckley Abioye’s nomination is no other person than his god-father, Niyi Idowu esq. If Niyi Akinmola continues in the race, what are his chances? It does not appear very bright although it can be said for the self declared ‘lone ranger’ candidate that he has campaigned fairly far and wide with limited measure of success.
The third chairmanship candidate is Beckley Abioye. Before 2006, Abioye was not much of an item in the affairs of the NBA Ikeja branch. His fortune changed when the inner family of the PBF adopted him as their candidate for the post of Secretary. Powered on by their famous political muscle, the PBF led by the very able Dare Akande, brought Beckley into office, unopposed. But almost immediately once in office and in conjunction with his mentor, Niyi Idowu who also rode the PBF horse into the chairmanship seat of the Tiger Branch, began to turn against their political family.
For starters, they prevented Adesina Ogunlana esq, whom they perceived to be an Adekunle Ojo clone, to be a part of ‘their’ government.
Secondly unlike in the Adekunle Ojo era, the duo of Niyi Idowu and Beckley Abioye began to distance themselves from the ready-made think tank that the inner family group of the PBF was. The duo were determined to run the show by themselves and as they deemed fit.
In doing this they started building a new caucus filled by new, inexperienced hands, upon whose fragile shoulders they thrust heavy burdens of the bar to perform.
Before long, the effect of this deliberate political decision began to show. The once vibrant Ikeja bar began to lose its shine not only in the outside world but internally. However the duo of Idowu and Beckley, believed that the past two years in the NBA Ikeja were wonderful ones, hence candidate Beckley’s campaign theme of “continuity and consolidation”. He is the only candidate carrying this banner, even his “half partner” Niyi Akinmola esq is talking about the need for change.
Can Beckley Abioye’s dream to become the next chairman of the NBA come to pass? On the positive side, this candidate has the advantage of incumbency on his side and is clearly in possession of enough sense of desperation to try just about anything to achieve his goal. By being the incumbent secretary, Beckley enjoys a certain level of visibility. With the full support of his chairman, he has not hesitated to take the advantage of his office to work “wonders” with records pertinent to the electoral contest ahead. Only a few weeks back the financial secretary the quiet Yinka Farounbi, who ironically sponsored Beckley into the bosom of the PBF had cause at an Executive council meeting of the branch and rightly too, to accuse both Beckley and Idowu of seizing certain financial records of the branch in his custody and tempering with same. The duo had no answer to the charge.
Still on the positive chance, whatever successes of the Idowu administration which includes raising up to about seven million naira for the FRA Williams Bar Centre and securing from the Lagos State Government, a new bus for the branch, Abioye can rightly claim to it, since it could be said that he is a major player in the regime.
On his own, Beckley stands very little chance, but supported by the scheming and deeply vengeful Niyi Idowu and who has been longer in the political jungle, Beckley will be a major-contender in the race. The essential campaign of the duo is to demonise their former political comrades, particularly the still popular Adekunle Ojo, the former chairman of the branch as a purloiner of branch funds while they (Niyi Idowu and Beckley Abioye) are the Mr. Clean. Their other former comrades like Adebamigbe Omole, Dare Akande, Isa Buhari, Dave Ajetomobi, Tajudeen Ibrahim, Yinka Farounbi, Adesina Ogunlana are portrayed as people prepared to cover up Adekunle Ojo’s misdeeds.
History however does not favour the emergence of Abioye as the chairman of the branch, this time around. All former chairmen and even the incumbent Niyi Idowu who were once Secretaries of the bar, came to the topmost jobs years after being secretaries. For example Mr. Bisi Ade-Ademuwagun became chairman of the Ikeja in 2002 but was secretary almost thirteen years earlier.
Dele Adesina S.A.N became the chairman in 1998, but was secretary in 1991 while Niyi Idowu who became the chairman in 2006 was the secretary in 1998. Already people are wondering why Abioye is in such a hurry to become the chairman in the presence of the two vice-chairmen willing to so become.
Another factor against Beckley is his apparent “juniority” in the scheme of things despite his relative prominence as secretary of the bar. In the PBF caucus he is the most junior of the PBF trio, to wit, Dave Ajetomobi, Niyi Akinmola and himself. In the herachy of bar positions, he remains junior to both Akinmola and Ajetomobi and is also junior to Ajetomobi at the bar, by three years.
In deflecting the change of juniority Beckley Abioye’s dismissive riposte was an arrogant “The only thing those who say I should step down from the race for Dave Ajetomobi can say is that I am junior to him”-as if it is a non-issue.
Thirdly in the area of personal charm, Abioye may not score highly. In the earlier period of his secretary ship, he was one secretary known to be harsh, and often impatient with people and speaking down on them in manner highly suggestive of irritation. In election times people remember such things of candidates, no matter the meek and gentle looks a vote seeking candidate may perforce wear presently.
Fourthly the Beckley Abioye and Niyi Idowu’s misadventure in the Dele Adesina matter-the issuance of a letter of “vouching” to Chief Rotimi Akeredolu S.A.N tacitly endorsing his candidature for NBA presidency to the detriment of the NBA Ikeja home boy Dele Adesina S.A.N, will work against Abioye’s chances.
When the issue came up at the very uproarious May 2008 meeting of the bar, both the chairman and his secretary, who unilaterally decided to ‘vouch’ for Akeredolu without notice to the other members of the Executive Committee escaped sanction only at the heavy intervention of the elders of the bar.
Fifthly Beckley Abioye does not enjoy the support of majority members of the Executive Committee. Perceived as high-handed and self-serving the common joke among members of the Exco is to describe his newly acquired Mistibushi Saloon car as “Mistibushi Imprest” a jab at what is considered to be a generous secretariat maintenance allowance allowed him by the chairman. If majority of the ‘Exco’ members were for Abioye, his plans of becoming the NBA chairman would have been made easier. Under him, the secretariat had not functioned too well. There was no particular improvement on the sanitation of the toilets and the ‘business centre’ of the secretariat packed up a long time ago and there are insinuations that most of the work done by the business centre workers were in the typing and photocopying of LLM course materials of the secretary.
The last but not the least of the chairmanship candidate is Dave Ajetomobi. Like Abioye, and Dele Oloke, he is from Osun State and has at least six years of service in the NBA as a publicity secretary, as a 2nd Vice-chairman and presently as the 1st Vice-Chairman.
Backed by the vast majority of the inner family of the influential progressive Bar Forum which includes the national leader of the PBF, Dare Akande, Adebamigbe Omole, the president of the Lagos State Chapter of the PBF and Adekunle Ojo, the former chairman of the branch, Dave Ajetomobi as at press time is still the candidate to beat.
For one, he has the most-experienced and largest political machinery behind him, the same machinery which brought the incumbent chairman and secretary to power. This is a great advantage because unlike some of his rivals like Dele Oloke and Niyi Akinmola who are just like Beckley whose structure is new and untested, Ajetomobi’s campaingigners are a bunch of tested committed veterans, who are even fired to greater commitment in the face of the political shenanigans of the Idowu-Abioye break-away faction and that of their half-partner Niyi Akinmola esq.
Secondly, Dave’s opponents for whatever reason have left to him to monopolise the platform of the only functional legal journal in Lagos State to sell himself to the electorate. This situation may prove crucial to his eventual success, as Osahon Ihenyen esq learnt to his cost in the 2004 elections, in the contest against Adekunle Ojo to become the chairman of the branch then.
Thirdly Dave Ajetomobi has maintained the cleanest campaign of all the candidates and his group can never be found talking evil of their opponents but always keep emphasising on the programrs of the candidate.
In favour of Ajetomobi is the fact that he and his group identified staunchly with the aspiration of the NBA Ikeja branch to produce the next NBA president via the person of Deacon Dele Adesina. For this astute decision to let bygone be bygones and support Dele Adesina’s presidential bid, Ajetomobi’s group has gained new supporters, even from quarters not ordinarily well disposed to the Progressive Bar Forum.
The large official bar, which Niyi Idowu-Abioye faction of the PBF has alienated and even lately antagonised does not appear to be against the Ajetomobi candidature, and this is a huge plus for him.
Yet the Ajetomobi candidature is not entirely problem-free, Because he is the standard bearer of the main inner family of the PBF, opponents of the PBF are happy that the PBF is fracturing and imploding and may not wish a main PBFite to gain power again since such can only strengthen the caucus again. This main group is being mocked as creating the Niyi Idowu-Beckley Abioye ‘monster’ and so must sink with it.
In some quarters, where the Idowu-Abioye administration is heavily loathed, the administration is hung on the neck of the Ajetomobi backers since they undoubtedly gave birth to the administration. The poser is “Were you not the ones who brought Niyi (Idowu) to us?
How are we sure this one (Ajetomobi) will not turn out just like him (Idowu)?
The constant link of Niyi Idowu to the Ajetomobi group despite his determined and deliberate break with members of his former political family is understandable considering his supposedly strong professional personal, even familial links with his former comrades particularly Tajudeen Ibrahim, Adebamigbe Omole and Oludare Akande a.k.a Leader. But that as somebody had pointed out “is politics."
From all indications, the two leading candidiates in the chairmanship elections are Dave Ajetomobi and Beckley Abioye. It is behind these two candidates that all other candidates contesting for other posts have queued behind.

A cursory look down the ladder shows that the Ajetomobi group parades a stronger and more experienced team. For example in the vice-chairman position, Ajetomobi’s group presents the very experienced and well known Dare Akande as against the relatively unknown Charles Oguntuga.
For Second vice-chairman, the duo of Terry Badmus Adeniyi (incumbent treasurer) and Dafosta Osinowo belongs to the Ajetomobi group while the Idowu-Abioye group presents a Meimuna Esegine, another relatively unknown political player.
For the General Secretary, the Ajetomobi group settles for the veteran party man-Isa Mohammed Buhari (1990 call year) while the Idowu-Abioye group presents Mrs. Titi Osagie (2000 call year) another new face in the NBA Ikeja affairs. For Social Secretary, the Ajetomobi group presents Emmanuel Otobo the out-going Auditor, called to the bar in 1990 while the Idowu-Abioye group presents Miss Abiola Oketoki, a 2002 graduate of the Nigerian Law School
For the office of the Publicity Secretary, the Ajetomobi group has settled for Lateef Abdusalam esq while the Idowu-Abioye group goes for S.O. Omodara
Judging from the analysis of the the Abioye report, many of the contestants under the Idowu-Abioye banner may in all probability end up disqualified, with the necessary political implications and consequences for the group.
So the question remains which way will the Tigers go in the June 2008 elections? The answer lies with the voters. Please ask them.