The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has appointed 3 extra members to be part of the it’s board of trustees, in addition to the existing 6, thus, bringing it to a total of 9.These new members include Mr. Yunus Ustaz Usman, SAN (NBA Kaduna Branch); Mr. George Etomi (NBA Lagos Branch) and Patricia Igwebuike (NBA Oji River Branch).
According to City Lawyer, the appointment of the three new members of the board of trustees were proposed and accepted at the pre-Annual General Conference National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting and ratified by the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which both took place in Lagos.
These appointments are made in line with Section 24(ii) of the amended NBA Constitution.
This section reads thus: “The Trustees shall be nine (9) in number and shall be known as THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION in accordance with the provisions of Part F of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Act No. 3 2020 (“CAMA” as may be amended from time-to-time). Provided that each geographical zone of the Association as defined in this Constitution shall have an equal number of Trustees.” It is on this basis that the NBA has gotten 3 new members to fulfill the constitutional requirement.
The 3 new appointed members have previous experience and profile for the job. Mr. Y. U Usman SAN is the immediate past Chairman of the NBA Disciplinary Committee which had just been dissolved recently and had the responsibility to investigate complaints of professional impropriety or other misconduct made against members of the Bar and to make appropriate suggestions.
Furthermore, George Etomi Chaired the 12-member Transition Committee which birthed the outgone NBA administration led by Olumide Akpata. In addition to this, he had also been the pioneer Chairman of NBA Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL). Mr. Etomi is a member of the Body of Benchers having been appointed in 2016, and he is a recipient of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM). Also, he is a member of the International Trade in Legal Services of the Bar Issues Commission of the International Bar Association (IBA) and happens to be a regular facilitator at global business conferences.
On her part, Patricia Igwebuike is at the moment a Cabinet Member in the Professor Chukwuma Soludo Administration. She is a past Chairman of NBA Oji River Branch, and a onetime Special Assistant to former Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State. She had been the Secretary of the NBA General Purposes Committee recently dissolved.
At the point of filing this report, the letters of appointment had been sent to the 3 new appointees.
The other members of the NBA Board of Trustees include: Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN (Chairman), Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN, Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN, Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, Mrs. Fatima Kwaku, and Mr. Obafemi Adewale.
Credit: The Nigerian Lawyer