YADUDU
NBA ELECTIONS: EFCC GRILLS MAHMOUD, YADUDU TODAY
The last may not have been heard on the controversial Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Elections as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will today grill former NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud SAN and Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) Chairman, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu on their roles in the elections. Also to answer queries from a battery of EFCC operatives is ECNBA Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Agoro.
According to an impeccable source who is familiar with the investigation, though the EFCC operatives had earlier scheduled to interview the trio before now, they had requested that the interviews be done in Abuja.
"EFCC turned down the request," the source told CITY LAWYER. "Instead, it opted to reschedule the interviews to Friday, 24th January, 2019."
CITY LAWYER also gathered that the anti-graft agency has invited over 50 other lawyers from several NBA branches to its office in its bid to unravel allegations of rigging and sundry infractions during the elections. The investigation is being conducted by EFCC's Cybercrime Unit.
It is recalled that the EFCC had barely a month after the elections requested a certified true copy of the list of eligible voters for the poll from CHAMS Plc, one of the ICT firms that conducted the elections.
In a letter to the ICT company dated 10th September, 2018 with reference number CR:3000/EFCC/LS/STF/STF3NBA/VOL.7/382, the EFCC stated: "This commission is investigating a case of conspiracy and Cyber Crime in respect of the above-mentioned election featured."
Signed by its Zonal Head, Mr. Akaninyene Ezima and titled "Investigation activities, Re: 2018 Nigeria Bar Association elections," EFCC stated that the request was made pursuant to Section 38(1) of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and Section 21 of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended.
In the letter to the managing director of CHAMS Plc, the anti-graft agency further stated: "In view of the above, you are requested to avail us with certified true copy of the list of all eligible voters to include but not limited to Name(s), Phone Number(s), Email Address(es), Branch(es) and Voters ID.
"Any other information that may assist the Commission in its investigation."
Mr. Paul Usoro SAN was declared elected as NBA President by the ECNBA. Usoro polled 4, 509 votes to beat Chief Arthur Obi Okafor SAN who scored 4, 423 votes while Prof. Ernest Ojukwu (SAN) polled 3, 313 votes. Both Obi Okafor and Ojukwu rejected the results, alleging that irregularities marred the elections.
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WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Audit Will Not Alter Election Results – Yadudu
Any hopes by defeated candidates in the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections that an audit will upturn the outcome of the elections has been dashed by the Electoral Committee of NBA (ECNBA) Chairman, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu.
It is recalled that a presidential candidate in the elections, Chief Arthur Obi Okafor SAN had specifically requested an audit of the elections as a pre-condition to cooperate with NBA President-elect, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN.
But Yadudu while responding to enquiries by CITY LAWYER, foreclosed any possibility that the audit will reverse the election results as declared by the ECNBA.
His words: "A post election audit will be carried out as promised. However, it is not to validate or invalidate the result announced."
This is bound to rattle some of the candidates who are hoping that the planned audit may void some of the results declared by the ECNBA.
Asked to respond to allegations by Okafor and Prof. Ernest Ojukwu SAN, the two other presidential candidates, that the elections were riddled with rigging among other infractions, the ECNBA Chairman declined comment, saying: "Sorry l cannot comment on views by others about or in any matter pertaining to (the) election."
When CITY LAWYER asked the veteran law teacher for suggestions on electoral reforms, he also side-stepped the issue, saying: "These are matters that will go into (our) report. So it will not be proper to address (same) in the press."
He however noted that the NBA National Executive Committee meeting which held yesterday did not ratify the outcome of the elections but merely the change in date. His words: "NEC did not ratify the election. It ratified the timing by which the ECNBA held the election in August instead of July."
It is recalled that CITY LAWYER had in an exclusive report revealed that Usoro is a co-director at Access Bank Plc with Dr. (Mrs.) Ajoritsedere Josephine Awosika, the first female Chairman of CHAMS Plc. CHAMS was originally hired by the ECNBA as its sole ICT Partner for the elections. It eventually deployed its voting portal for the elections.
The CITY LAWYER report had raised concerns on the integrity of NBA's electoral process and the ability of the ECNBA to deliver free, fair and credible elections.
Following petitions by candidates and a flurry of meetings, outgoing NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud SAN had initiated several electoral reforms to reassure stakeholders.
In a press statement dated July 21, 2018 Mahmoud had promised that an audit of the elections will be carried out.
His words: "The ECNBA will develop a post-election audit framework and process and may engage an independent entity for that purpose."
Usoro was declared winner of the hotly contested poll on August 20, three weeks after the initial date set for the conclusion of the elections.
Both Okafor and Ojukwu rejected the results, alleging rigging and other electoral infractions.
Though the elections were conducted in August as against July specified in the NBA Constitution, the NBA-NEC yesterday ratified the shift in date, clearing the way for Usoro to be sworn-in as the 29th NBA President.
Odinkalu Calls NBA Election a 'Racket,' Raps Mahmoud
Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has lampooned the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections, saying it was a "racket."
In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER, Odinkalu who is increasingly assuming the role of the 'Conscience of the Bar,' also berated NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud SAN for the debacle, saying that "the outgoing Bar leadership is incredibly tarnished by its role in this messy racket."
Although Mr. Paul Usoro SAN was declared winner of the presidential election by the Prof. Auwalu Yadudu-led Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA), both Chief Arthur Obi Okafor SAN and Prof. Ernest Ojukwu SAN who contested for the NBA Presidency also rejected the results, alleging that the election was marred by rigging among other vices.
The statement reads:
Concerning What AB Mahmoud & the NBA Have Done
Good morning colleagues.
It is unfortunate colleagues failed to heed the clear facts & evidence of a compromised process in #NBADecides2018. The contestants and their supporters mostly behaved desperate, conferring legitimacy on a process that manifestly lacked it from the get go.
Each campaign appeared to behave in such a way as to suggest they were best placed to benefit from a system configured for pre-determined outcomes.
This was not an election. It was not even a selection. It was a racket and a messed up one at that. Now, they will ask the NBA NEC to make this messed up racket their own & ratify it at the pre-conference NEC. That will be interesting.
This racket is a disgrace. The process was compromised and did not even pretend about it. The outcome lacks legitimacy and the declared winner has procured a compromised non-mandate.
Those who hope or expect that there will be an audit should come off that kind of hallucination – you don't ask a burglar to investigate the burglary.
The outgoing Bar leadership is incredibly tarnished by its role in this messy racket. Yet, we are unlikely to learn. There are no plaudits to hand out, no congratulations to anyone and no one comes out of this a winner.
My name is Chidi Anselm Odinkalu. I am a City-Zen.
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CHAMS Did Not Reject or Lose Voters' Data – Yadudu
• Says Issue of Passwords 'Has been Resolved'
• Advises Voters to Go for EMAIL Option
• Voters Allege Identity Theft
• Candidate Petitions ECNBA
• Voters List Challenges
• 'Those with Missing Names May Vote' Continue Reading
Expect Voters' Register Soon – Yadudu
• Candidates Shut Out of Reconciliation Exercise
• 5050 Eligible Voters Verified
There are strong indications that CRENET Techlabs is yet to conclude the clean-up of the final voters' register following the end of the verification exercise, CITY LAWYER can report. Continue Reading
INSIGHT: NBA's Troubled 2018 Elections
By Our Correspondent
The first signs that this year's Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Officers Elections will be keenly contested emerged at the National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) meeting in Ilorin on March 1, 2018 when the composition of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) stoked a fierce controversy. This ultimately led to the replacement of Mr. Tobias Kekemeke with Prof. Augustine Agom. Continue Reading
NBA ELECTION: Yadudu Hails CITY LAWYER
CITY LAWYER yesterday received high praise from the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Prof. Auwalu Yadudu. The electoral committee chairman commended CITY LAWYER for its accuracy and professionalism in reporting the troubled NBA Elections. Continue Reading
Verification Has Resumed, Says ECNBA
The Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) has formally issued a notice announcing the resumption of the verification exercise.
It also warned that any infraction of the process will be treated as a "misconduct."
The notice confirms an earlier interview given by ECNBA Cbairman, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu to CITY LAWYER stating that the verification exercise will commence as scheduled.
Below is a full text of the ECNBA statement signed by its secretary, Mr. Bolaji Agoro:
RESUMPTION OF VERIFICATION EXERCISE FOR THE 2018 NBA NATIONAL OFFICERS` ELECTIONS
The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, (ECNBA) hereby notifies members that the verification exercise for the 2018 NBA National Officers Elections resumes at 12:00Noon, 8th August 2018. Members are advised to visit the verification portal at www. nbaelectionverification.org.ng.
To continue with the process of verification, members are advised to take note of the following guide to the completion of the form;
1. To complete this form, your NAME must be on the voters list submitted by your branch (To confirm that your name is on the list visit the NBA website at www.nigerianbar.org.ng.
2. Phone number and email address can only be used once.
3. If you have been duly verified and received a message to that effect, you need not complete this form
4. Completion of this form by proxy or impersonation of any kind is not allowed as such act will be treated as misconduct.
5. At the conclusion of this exercise, please note your reference number for records.
6. A voter must certify that the information supplied in this form is true and belongs to him/her.
The ECNBA counts on your support for free, fair, and credible elections.
Dated 8th August, 2018
Bolaji A. Agoro, Esq. Secretary (ECNBA)
VERIFICATION: We are Ready –Yadudu
There are strong indications that the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) will restart the suspended verification process at 12 noon today.
ECNBA Chairman, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu told CITY LAWYER today that the committee 'plans' to commence the verification process as scheduled. Continue Reading
Resignation Scam Designed to Scuttle Election – NBA
• 'Our Letterhead was Cloned'
• 'We Will Investigate this Forgery'
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said that the purported resignation of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) Chairman, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu SAN was designed to scuttle ongoing efforts to conduct the troubled NBA National Officers Elections.
In a statement by NBA General Secretary, Mr. Isiaka Olagunju, the association debunked the alleged resignation, noting that both its letterhead and Yadudu's signature were cloned. The NBA vowed that the forgery would be investigated.
Yadudu had yesterday told CITY LAWYER that he had not resigned, descriing the alleged resignation letter as "fake." In a text message he later sent to CITY LAWYER, the embattled electoral committee chairman also hinted that the police would be invited to look into the matter with a view to bringing the culprits to justice. His words: "I am afraid we would make it a police case."
The legal community was agog yesterday when news filtered in that the Law teacher had 'stepped aside' from the post, thereby pouring fuel into the preparations for the biennial elections.
Below is the full text of the statement:
PRESS RELEASE: PROFESSOR AUWALU YADUDU REMAINS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ECNBA
The attention of the Nigerian Bar Association has been drawn to an online media report by the 'The Nigeria Lawyer' on 6th August, 2018, that the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) Professor Auwalu
Yadudu has resigned.
It is quite unfortunate that the report was not only built on falsehood but constitute an act of forgery. The official letterhead of the NBA and the Signature of the Chairman of the ECNBA were forged in that publication. The
entire content of the publication is false.
The NBA will ensure that this publication that is perpetrated to disrupt the ongoing electoral process to the extent of forging the NBA official letterhead and signature of the Chairman of ECNBA are investigated.
We therefore wish to state that Professor Auwalu Yadudu and the members of the ECNBA are committed towards ensuring a credible, free and fair election.
We further implore all members of the Association to desist from publishing contents and/or taking steps that will disrupt the electoral process but rather cooperate with the ECNBA in ensuring a credible, free and fair election.
Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju