A letter written by former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba on the contentious zoning arrangement of the association in electing its president is creating ripples among lawyers. The issue of who becomes the next president of the NBA in the July 2014 election is one that if not properly managed can tear the association apart. LAW EDITOR, Adam Adedimeji reports
The letter was dated 28th April, 2014 and addressed to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Okey Wali SAN. It was written by former NBA President and a delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. In the letter, Agbakoba advised the NBA not to depart from its zoning arrangement in its 2014 presidential elections. Hear him, "I regret that the 2014 NBA Presidential Elections is getting out of hand and I fear there will be dire consequences. We must not allow the Elections become a 'do or die' matter. We are not politicians. That is why when I was President I adopted the inclusion policy so that all zones have the opportunity to produce the President. We all know that by the zoning convention, it is the turn of the South west region to produce our President. I appreciate the concern and disappointment of the Midwest that it has not been included in our zoning arrangement. This is why when I was President I set up the inclusion committee to review this at our NEC meeting in Maiduguri but unfortunately this has not materialized."
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