NBA ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT,NATIONAL OFFICERS

Former Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) has won the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) election.

He polled 3,055 votes to beat his challenger, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), who scored 2,384 votes.

The result was announced yesterday. Voting was done online in a newly introduced universal suffrage.

Mahmoud will serve for two years, with Caleb Danjan (first vice president); former NBA Ikeja chairman MondayUbani second vice president); and Benedict Oji (third vice president), who were returned unopposed.

For the Office of General Secretary, Mr Isiaka Olagunju scored 2,721 votes, beating Desmond Yamah, who scored 2,510 votes.

Other winners are Leo Ohagba (first assistant secretary), who scored 2,402 votes, defeating Kunle Edunolu, with 1,653 votes and Enebi Salihu, who polled 1,067 votes.

The rest are Cecilia Ugbuji (second assistant secretary), Aisha Abdullahi (treasurer), Adesina Adegbite (welfare secretary), Ngozi Udodi (financial secretary), Dorcas Ngwu (assistant financial secretary), Chukwuemeka Mbamala (assistant publicity secretary) and Oyeyemi Balogun (legal adviser).

While campagning, Mahmoud said NBA presidency was an opportunity to serve and help restore the crisis of confidence in the judiciary, adding that his strongest motivation would be to rebuild the legal profession.

According to him, the association must stand up for a clean judiciary, which he said should produce consistent, predictable outcomes based on facts and the law.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be said to be the situation in Nigeria. Many a time, the outcomes are hardly predictable. So we want a judiciary that is clean, efficient and effective,” he said.

Mahmoud said the NBA, under him, would address the issues of infrastructure deficit, corruption, flawed judicial appointments processes and the code of conduct for judicial officers.

Following allegations that the process was being manipulated to favour him, Mahmoud said he was confident the electoral committee would be impartial as he would prefer to win an election that was credible.