A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, has asked the High Court of The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to order a fresh election for officers of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He is praying for an order directing the General Council of the Bar to set up a newly constituted Electoral Committee of the NBA which will issue guidelines and conduct a fresh national officers’ election in line with the 2015 NBA Constitution.
Gadzama is seeking a declaration that the integrity of the election held on July 30 and 31 was “fundamentally and incurably compromised by undue influence, over bearing and bias conduct”.
Defendants are NBA trustees, Including Abdullahi Ibrahim (San), Chief Wole Olanipekun (San), Thompson Joseph Onomigho Okpoko (San), Chief Priscilla Kuye, Alhaji Murtala Aminu And Chief Anthony O. Mogbo.
Others are the Incorporated Trustees of NBA, Chairman, NBA Electoral Committee Mr. Ken Mozia (SAN), NBA president Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN) and Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), who won the election.
Gadzama is praying the court to hold that the election was in total violation and disregard of the mandatory provision of the NBA Constitution and thereby made the process null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
He sought a declaration that the internet voting system adopted for the election was not in conformity with the mandatory provisions of the NBA Constitution in that all the pre-requisite preparations, obligations and duties provided to guarantee free, fair, credible and transparent electronic voting system were ignored, disregarded and not complied with by the defendants.
Gadzama is praying the court to order that the 2016 NBA Presidential election be held through electronic voting in all branches of the NBA and that results should be collated at branch level and transmitted to the electoral committee’s secretariat.
Among lawyers who will represent the plaintiff, as listed in the processes, are Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), Pius Akubo (SAN), Duro Adeyele (SAN), Mr. Sebastine T. Hon (SAN), Prof. Andrew Chukwuemerie (SAN), Mr KunleOgunba (SAN ), Garba Pwul (SAN), Aliyu Umar (SAN), among others.
Mahmoud, a former Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, polled 3,055 votes in the election to beat Gadzama, who scored 2,384 votes out.
Mahmoud is expected to be sworn in during the association’s annual general conference to be held in Port Harcourt next week.