EXTRACTS FROM THE NBA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) 2016

NBA 2016 ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE: HIGHLIGHTS OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (THURSDAY, August 25, 2016). The meeting opened at exactly 10.00am with an opening prayer. Thereafter the conferees were asked to verify the minutes in pages 318-326 of the Annual Report to ensure there is no correction to be made. Some errors were brought to the notice of the outgoing President in which he sincerely thanked them. At the end of the corrections, Mr. Adewale from Ikeja branch proposed the adoption of the minute of the meeting while the motion was seconded by Ruth Badun from the Ibadan branch and the minute of the Annual General Meeting held in Abuja was subsequently adopted. After the adoption of the minute, the outgoing president in the person of Augustine Alegeh SAN proceeded with the agenda of the meeting. The outgoing president’s statement came next. He began his speech by welcoming everyone present and stated that the General Meeting will be the last general meeting of his administration. He expressed his profound appreciation to the Bar for all the support rendered to him during his administration and apologised for whatever inadequacies encountered by his administration. He stated that in the last two years, they had been able to introduce the NBA affinity, stamps amongst other projects and expressed his desire that the next administration continue in the said positive projects if they believed in them. Also, he welcomed parties for new Senior Advocates of Nigeria and send forth parties for retiring Supreme Court Justices had also been introduced in the last two years as well as the introduction of entertainment sessions featuring top artistes like Burna Boy and Tuface respectively in the last two NBA conferences. He informed the house that the bar provided support both financially and in terms of man power during the last elections held as well as joined hands with the Government in the fight against corruption. He stated that the Bar under his administration had zero tolerance for corruption. The Bar also joined hands with the Government in the fight and struggle against insurgency. The NBA secretariat was also constructed in Abuja and on the 16th of August, the National executive of the NBA also moved into a more befitting area in Abuja. The secretariat was built for the comfort and accommodation of members of the Bar. He stated that his administration afforded more lawyers the right to exercise their right as opposed to previous administrations. He stated that the newly introduced e-Voting universal suffrage system saved the Association an average of N600 Million. The administration, he said, introduced a series of innovations regulating the way and time frame in which office holders could be allowed to hold office again. He concluded by restating the fact that the desire of his administration has been to serve the association, to leave it better than he met it and leave behind a viable association for the incoming administration. He further apologised for the difficulties experienced in the conference as regards the lack of conference materials. He stated that in the Abuja AGM they got a total of 12,000 bags and in this year’s Port HarcourtH conference they got a total of over 10,000 bags which had all been collected. He stated that the entire number of bags exceeded the total number of conferees and yet about 3,000 people still did not have bags. He further stated that at the conference this year, they had not less than 10,000 bags and about 9,000 conferees. He emphasized that the bags came in batches in the course of the conference, and that at the moment about 3,000 people were still unable to get bags. He accepted total responsibility for this and apologized. He advised the bar to stay united despite the outcome of the elections while thanking the members of the association for the support accorded him during the administration. At the end of the report, Ziggy Azike was called upon to move for the adoption of the president’s report which he did. Professor Jummai Audi was thereafter called upon to second the motion for the adoption of the president’s speech which she did. Thereafter, the General Secretary in the person of Mazi Afam Osigwe presented his report. He stressed on the outcome of the cases presented to the Disciplinary Panel and their challenges together with the fact that the NBA secretariat had been moved to a better location at Plot 1101 Cadastral Zone A00, Central Business District, Abuja. He expressed profound appreciation and pledged total support from the Bar for Abiola Isiaka, his successor and expressed gratitude to the entire Bar. Usman Sule of the Lokoja Branch was asked to move the motion to adopt the Secretary’s Report. Professor Ogugua Ikpeazu was called upon to second the adoption of the secretary’s report. Afterwards, the next report to be adopted was the treasurer’s report which appeared on pages 1-64 and craved the indulgence of the house to take the report as read. The President then called on the chairman of the Abuja branch to move for the adoption of the treasurer’s report. Mrs. Geraldine from Lagos branch was thereafter called to second the motion. Conferees commented on the financial report. Another conferee asked that a clarification be made on the expenditure at page 30 paragraph 22 of the treasurer’s report which the President explicitly did stating that the N200,000 was given to the (LOAN) acronym for Law Officers Association of Nigeria for celebration of their law week while strata flex were the ones in charge of the stamp of the stamp. Another conferee commended the executive for its prudence and transparency in the expenditure while praying for the grace to fish out the bad eggs in the association. A member of the house expressed his displeasure that the annual report and the treasurer’s report was only given to members at the venue thus depriving the members of enough time to process the information contained in them and to make adequate contributions. Next, the Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Mr. Onadeko presented the Report for the Council of Legal Education and highlighted the salient points in the annual report stating that about 2,218 new wigs were called to the bar including an octogenarian whom he wished a very robust practise at the bar. He called for comments on the online questionnaires so as to help in further developing the standards of the council of legal education and better training of Law students, to make them better lawyers. He commented the infamous act of some legal practitioners who engage in examination malpractices by coming into the bar examinations to sit for law students. He further observed that another challenge faced by the Council was the fact that universities exceed the quota of their faculty, but this challenge has been eroded by the introduction of an index number to every law student, such that will serve to curtail the excess number of students admitted by universities. The implication of this, he stressed, was that any student without an index number cannot be regarded as a law student. He raised the issue of structured pupillage, which he stated was very important, and pleaded that the structured pupillage be made effective to train new wigs in effective and effectual practice. He concluded by expressing his gratitude for the audience granted him. The President observed that some salient facts had been omitted from the report such as the donations made to the Lagos campus for the renovations of some of the hostels and the fact that, the DG, himself had just been conferred with the title of “SAN”. Rotimi Jacobs SAN, moved for the adoption of the report, while the past General Secretary, Afio Fayokun was called upon to second the adoption of the report. Lady Grace Azingi stood in representation of the Director General of the CAC and delivered the report of the CAC. She stated that from the 1st of September 2016, the Commission will suspend the manual submission of applications for name reservations, as it will now commence on the internet. She outlined the innovations just introduced by the CAC, and stated that the draft copy of the review of CAMA has been circulated with the vision to improve the workings of the commissions, business names and incorporated trustees. At the end of the report by CAC, Emeka Ohiagulu the past Secretary General of the NBA was called upon to adopt the report, while Liveryard, the Chiarman of the Ikorodu branch, was called upon to second the motion. LEGAL AID COUNCIL REPORT The report was presented by Mrs. Joy Bob-Manuel, the Director-General of the Legal Aid Council. She stated that despite the fact that they were affected by the strikes, they were still able to have completed about 7,000 cases. She informed the house that the World Bank recently commended the Legal Aid for the good work they had been doing, and also that the council recently moved into their permanent location at Garki Abuja. She called for collaborations with the council and stated that those interested in such collaborations could pick up a form at the nearest Legal Aid Councils to them. The motion for the adoption of the report was then moved, while Lady Debbie seconded same. Questions were asked by the conferees and answered accordingly by the outgoing president. Awards were given to conferees that stood out.