NBA Member Seeks Nullification Of Garki Branch Election, Alleges Irregularities
A member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Garki Branch, Paschal Tochukwu Nnaji, has filed an originating summons at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the nullification of the branch’s recently concluded election.
Nnaji, who claims to be an eligible voter in the election, alleges that the process was marred by irregularities and breaches of the NBA’s Uniform Bye-Laws for Branches.
In the suit, filed against the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA, Barr. Bamidele Anthony Ojo (the declared winner of the chairmanship position), and Barr. Obioma Ezenwobodo (the immediate past chairman), Nnaji raises three key questions for the court’s determination:
1. Whether the NBA Branch Elections Appeal Committee (North) is constitutionally bound to provide reasons for its decisions on petitions challenging candidates’ eligibility.
2. Whether the Appeal Committee was right to have qualified and sustained the nomination of Barr. Ojo despite the alleged failure of his seconder to attach a valid branch dues receipt.
3. Whether Barr. Ojo can unilaterally appoint committees and carry out other functions as chairman without a properly constituted Branch Executive Committee.
Nnaji contends that the Appeal Committee acted in breach of his right to fair hearing by failing to provide reasons for declaring Barr. Ojo qualified to contest the election, despite the issues raised in his petition. He argues that the committee’s decision to disqualify other chairmanship candidates without providing alternative choices for voters amounts to a pre-meditated act to foist Barr. Ojo on the branch members.
Furthermore, Nnaji alleges that since assuming office, Barr. Ojo has been running the affairs of the branch in violation of the NBA’s constitution, particularly by setting up committees without a properly constituted Executive Committee. He claims that the purported election and swearing-in of Barr. Ojo alongside two other candidates did not meet the required quorum of seven elected officers.
Consequently, Nnaji seeks several reliefs from the court, including declarations that the Appeal Committee is duty-bound to provide reasons for its decisions, that Barr. Ojo was not qualified to contest the election, and that his actions as chairman are null and void. He also seeks an order of perpetual injunction restraining Barr. Ojo and the other two officers from parading themselves as Branch Executive Committee members.
