NBA President Olumide Akpata
The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) has set up a Committee to audit the national elections of the Nigerian Bar Association for the years 2016, 2018 and 2020.
The BOSAN meeting which held over the weekend was presided over by the first female Senior Advocate, Mrs Folake Solanke.
At his inaugural address, the President of the Bar, Olumide Akpata, had announced the setting up of an Electoral Audit and Reforms Committee to audit the 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections and recommend reforms to guide future elections.
But there are those who believe that this procedure is wrong as it should have been the decision of the National Executive Committee of the NBA especially as Mr Akpata is the beneficiary of the flawed elections.
Channels Television gathered that BOSAN feels equally concerned about the outcome of the last three elections and wants the committee to embark on a fact-finding mission to unravel what happened so that the NBA can have credible elections going forward.
Some negative reactions have, however, trailed the move. A statement by a group, Open Bar Initiative insists that BOSAN’s move to audit the elections is only because a non-SAN emerged as President of the Bar.
In the statement signed by the convener, Silas Onu, the group called on the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) to desist from its attempt to audit the 2020 NBA Elections as it amounts to an attempt to supervise, meddle and undermine the NBA.
The statement further says that “the entire membership of BOSAN is less than 600 and as such, they aren’t in any position to act or speak for the over 120,000 lawyers in Nigeria.
The Open Bar Initiative concluded by saying that it is set to take BOSAN to court if it insists on acting unilaterally in ways that undermine the core purpose and responsibilities of the Nigerian Bar Association.
In a swift reaction, a member of the BOSAN Audit Committee, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), debunked insinuations that the BOSAN committee was set up to rival the audit committee set up by the President of the Bar, Olumide Akpata.
Adegboruwa said the setting up of the BOSAN commuter was a unanimous decision of the body with no ill motive or foul play in mind.
According to him: “The insinuation of alleged foul play is totally unwarranted, being a deliberate attempt to twist the narrative of the BOSAN meeting, with the sole aim of blackmailing the noble men and women of the Inner Bar, into silence.”
He also said all stakeholders in the legal profession are working towards a solution to the perennial complaints following the experiences with electronic voting and it is, therefore, not outside BOSAB’s mandate as lawyers to help the Bar to chart a way forward in this regard, in collaboration with the NBA and other relevant stakeholders. (Channels TV)
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