NBA presidency: Yoruba lawyers reconcile with faction
South West Lawyers Forum, the umbrella body of lawyers of Yoruba extraction, at the weekend reconciled with its splinter group which sensationally sacked the long standing Egbe leadership, even as the forum failed yet again to adopt a candidate for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential slot zoned to the South West.
At the meeting held at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, said to have been chosen as a ‘neutral ground’ in the spirit of reconciliation, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), Chairman of the Reconciliation Committee appointed by the Chief Bandele Aiku (SAN) leadership at its last meeting in Ibadan, told the forum otherwise called Egbe Amofin O’odua that all the leaders had agreed to reconcile.
Awomolo, warned that the forum should transcend merely nominating candidates for NBA Elections to include catering for the welfare of lawyers of Yoruba extraction.
In response to the growing quest by the Midwest Bar Forum to challenge the Egbe in producing the presidential candidate for the forthcoming NBA Elections, the committee advised that “The right of Egbe to produce the next NBA presidential candidate should be defended,” adding that it must not be shared with the Midwest Bar Forum.
Explaining the rationale for the stance, Awomolo noted that the Midwest Bar Forum merely approached the Egbe for a ‘working relationship,’ adding that there was no agreement that the Midwest Bar Forum would take the 2014 presidential slot. He alleged that the crisis was being fomented by an influential senior lawyer and noted that the Egbe was willing to “sit down and agree” with the Midwest Bar Forum on when it would take its slot.
Awomolo also noted that the Egbe leadership has agreed to evolve a leadership succession plan that would devolve power to the younger generation.
In his speech, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who is reportedly the “leader” of the splinter group, endorsed the reconciliation efforts, saying: “We are not politicians; it’s they who biker, it’s they who gossip. We are lawyers. There is no Aiku Faction; there is no Olanipekun faction.”
Lending his support to the clamour that the presidential slot must remain within the Egbe ranks, Olanipekun traced the genesis of the zoning arrangement for the NBA presidency to the emergence of Chief O. C. J. Okocha (SAN) as NBA President. He observed that though erstwhile NBA President J. B. Daudu (SAN) had mooted the idea of infusing the Midwest Bar Forum into the zoning arrangement, the quest was aborted when it became apparent that it would truncate the well-oiled zoning pattern already on ground, as it was difficult to determine the zone that would cede its turn to the Midwest Bar Forum to commence.
Aiku thanked the splinter group for seeing reason to melt into the larger body, adding that the bond within Egbe must be sustained.
The meeting which ended at 3:55 pm attracted many dignitaries including Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), former DirectorGeneral of the Nigerian Law School, Chief Kole Abayomi (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), Mr. Jelili Owonikoko (SAN), and Dr. S. P. A. Ajibade (SAN).