Olumide Akpata Picks NBA’s Presidential Nomination Form
Senior Partner at Templars and immediate past Chairman of the NBA Section on Business Law, Mr. Olumide Akpata, confirmed this morning that he has picked up the nomination form to contest for the Office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
You may recall that the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) recently released the Guidelines for the 2020 NBA Elections and also advised Nigerian lawyers interested in contesting for any elective national office of the NBA that the nomination forms were available on the NBA website.
There have been strong rumours that Olumide Akpata will be running for the highest office in the NBA. This move of picking up the Presidential Nomination Form has confirmed the rumours as it shows that, subject to the administrative processes of the ECNBA, the stage is set for him to participate at the polls scheduled to hold between 24th and 25th of July 2020 according to the timetable of the ECNBA.
When asked about his plans and manifesto for the NBA, Olumide Akpata confirmed that the ECNBA has not yet lifted the ban on campaigns and so it would be premature for him to release a manifesto. He, however, indicated in his various consultations with lawyers across the country which led to the decision to pick the NBA Presidential Nomination Form, it became clear to him that “the preponderance of opinion, among lawyers in Nigeria, is that the NBA is grossly lacking in utilitarian value and that many have remained members simply out of compulsion”. He continued that “No organisation can make progress without the buy-in of its stakeholders and it is therefore imperative that we have leaders who give us reasons to believe in the NBA by making the association work for all its members and not just for a privileged few”.
All aspirants to the NBA national offices are expected to submit their nominations forms and accompanying documents to the ECNBA no later than Thursday 29 May, 2020.
