Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has rejected the proposed amendment of the NBA constitution 2015 (as Amended in 2021) which among other things, abolished election into the office of President.
It was proposed that NBA’s president should upon completion of his tenure, be succeeded by the Vice President of the association.
The document was prepared by and submitted to the NBA by its Constitution Review Committee headed by Chief Asamah Kadiri SAN.
The subsisting NBA constitution (amended in 2021) recommends that each National Officer, including the president, shall be elected for a single term of 2 years.
The current NBA constitution further states that the office of the president shall be contested for by qualified candidates who are lawyers.
But the proposed document stipulated succession into the office of President by the vice President of the association.
Section 9 (3) (c) of the proposed amendment reads, “With respect to the office of the President, is the immediate past Vice President of the Association. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, ascension to the office of President of the Association shall be by succession, save for the circumstances listed in paragraph 4, part III of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.
” Provided that where the office of the Vice President is vacant at the time of succession, election may be held for the office of the President. This provision shall become operative after the 2024 elections of the Association.”