The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola is set to declare open the eagerly awaited Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) Annual Conference. The Annual Conference will hold from August 3 to August 5, 2022, at the NBA Headquarters in Abuja.
Meanwhile, another Supreme Court jurist, Justice Inyang Okoro will deliver the Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony on August 4, 2022, on the theme, “Undermining judicial authority in democracy: Causes, consequences, and solutions.”
Other confirmed Speakers at the annual conference include foremost human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana SAN; fiery human rights advocate, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN; NBA President-elect, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN; pioneer NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN; former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kanu Agabi SAN, and Executive Secretary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr. Tony Ojukwu SAN.
Other confirmed speakers for the eagerly awaited Annual Conference are the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Mr. Modibbo Tukur; Lagos State Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN; his Abia State counterpart, Mr. Uche Ihediwa SAN; former Jigawa State Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Sani Hussaini Garun-Gabbas SAN, two-time Lagos State Commissioner, Dr. Muiz Banire SAN and former All Progressives Congress National Legal Adviser, Mr. Babatunde Ogala SAN.
Also confirmed to speak at the Annual Conference are the President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip; Justice Mabel Taiye Bello of Federal High Court, Owerri Division; Associate Professor & Dean of Faculty of Law, Ave Maria University, Dr. Sam Amadi; Deputy Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola University and United Nations Independent Expert on Business and Human Rights, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi SAN, and immediate past NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, Prof. Paul Ananaba SAN.
Others are former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Prof. Adedeji Adekunle SAN; former Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform & General Counsel to Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya; former NBA General Secretary, Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN; pioneer United Nations Special Rapporteur on Summary, Arbitrary and Extrajudicial Executions in Nigeria, Prof. Valerie Azinge SAN, and Secretary of the Independent Investigative Panel (IIP) on Human Rights Violation by Defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Other Specialized Units, Mr. Hilary Ogbonna.
NBA 1st Vice President and IIP Member, Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins; Executive Director of Gender Awareness Trust (GAT) and IIP Member, Dr. Lydia Umar, and the Chief Executive of Law Pavilion, Mr. Ope Olugasa have also confirmed attendance at the annual conference.
Aside from speeches from NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata; NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, Dr. Monday Ubani, and Conference Planning Committee (CPC) Chairman, Mr. Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN, Goodwill Messages will also be received from UNICEF Chief Child Protection Officer, Ibrahim Sesay and National Programme Manager, British Council’s Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (RoLAC), Mr. Danladi Plang.
Among the topics to be dissected by the array of confirmed speakers are “Disobedience to court order and the slide to state of anarchy;” “Strengthening judicial authority in a democracy through effective and sustainable strategies;” “The impediments to seamless execution of court orders in Nigeria: Any way out?;” “A disruptive approach to public safety and access to justice using technology,” and “Independent Investigative Panel (IIP) on Human Rights Violation by defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other specialized units: The process, enforcement of the panel’s decisions/rulings, challenges, achievements and lessons learnt.”
The facilitators for the sessions are Executive Director of PRAWA and Co-Chair of the NBA-SPIDEL Development Law Group, Dr. Uju Agomoh; NBA-SPIDEL Council Member, Mr. Emeka Nwadioke and NBA-SPIDEL Publicity Secretary, Mr. Godfrey Echeho while NBA-SPIDEL Secretary and Local Organising Committee Chair, Dr. Princess Frank-Chukwuani will deliver the vote of thanks.
The conference is laced with lunches, closing dinner and networking opportunities. To register for the annual conference, please visit www.nbaspidel.ng or www.nbaspidel.ng/nba-spidel-conference-2022. For enquiries, call 08034461082, 08063088182 or email [email protected].
This is a time to be cynical and censorious about the state of the nation. It is also a defining moment to counsel crisis merchants who live by the temple of sycophancy that they should sheathe their swords at this perilous time. We need to tell them that they should allow us to reflect on our own Asa’s 2007 redemption song she boldly relived inside Aso Villa last week that: ‘There is fire on the mountain…and no one seems to be on the run…’
It is therefore not a time for any public relations gimmicks about global meltdown that some scoundrels are beginning to blame on this house that has fallen.
It is a time to ask whether our leader who promised to fix this country seven years ago is aware that the country he promised to fix is no longer a desirable place for citizens. It is regrettable that citizens of different faiths are now asking for Chinua Achebe’s last classic, ‘There was a country’. It will therefore be relevant to allow just one presidential chat, which will allow us to ask our president if he really understands that he is presiding over a failing and volatile nation at this time?’ How does he sleep well these days? How does he reflect on the state of the economy and how people are coping with difficulties arising from crass incompetence of his administration?
What else shall we write about? We have written about how our leader should read writings on the wall of the nation. We have written about how he should watch that debilitating ailment called ‘near-success syndrome’,(NSC). We have written about the mediocrity of his presidential bureaucracy and how he should restructure the civil service for service delivery. We have written about his lack of respect for the rule of law. We have written about why he needs to respect the federal character provisions in our constitution. We have written about how only quality in education can trigger country and global competiveness in the context of development. We have written about how the toxic unitary system of government the federal republic of the Nigerian army forced on us in 1966 should be dismantled for him to restructure the federation. We have written about the expediency of overhauling the federal bureaucracy to reduce cost of governance. We have written on the need to show clarity in the opaque fuel subsidy complexity to reduce corruptibility in the oil and gas sector. We have written on the futility of suspending the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) implementation while NNPC transits with just a change of name while all former documented failings remain solid, sorry valid. We have written on the reproach of president’s medical care in the United Kingdom for seven years without equipping even one apex hospital at home. We have written on the danger of allowing our Central Bank Governor to participate in partisan politics of presidential primaries without resigning from office. We have written on the danger of keeping a cabinet of mediocrities. What else shall we write about? How many revelations should a country’s media publish or broadcast before a country’s leader can pursue a common good?
I began to ask these questions here in 2020 in an article titled: ‘Does Buhari understand the times?’
Behold, it is no longer relevant to suggest anything to a leader who does what he likes even about constitutional provisions. It is considered futile to persist in suggesting any deals to a leader who hardly listens until the big men in the West, especially from North America threaten Abuja.
In 2020 I wrote here: “…We should not hesitate in telling the president that at this time that he needs to learn a few strategies from the ancient words, which are ever so true. Such classics help leaders to do extra-ordinary things that often propel them to make history….”
But after seven years it is clear to all commentators that most of our leaders in Nigeria don’t care about the weight of verdict of history. They don’t listen. They listen only to sycophants who supply dubious consultants to them. As I was saying, they don’t listen to genuine experts and patriots who can help them make some difference. They kill prophets and oracles around them.
So, they also listen to unethical orators who mesmerise them with sophistry that doesn’t build any monuments. This has been our experience, especially in the last 23 years that the locusts have eaten.
Democracy has thus been demonised and is now being seen as a weapon of mass deception of a country, no thanks to our democrats who celebrate mediocrity, impunity, profligacy, selfishness and arrogance.
From president Olusegun Obasanjo, through Musa Yar’adua to Goodluck Jonathan, we have witnessed all these banes. They never listened to voices of reason and wisdom. As I have noted several times, “there were glimpses that Yar’adua was going to make some difference but the cold hand of untimely death unfortunately registered his goodness in a graveyard”. He too didn’t listen to the voices that told him the letter of the organic law that only people of sound mind (health) should contest elections to be leaders.
We are beginning to notice that our President doesn’t want to listen again to the people who want him to finish strong. As I was saying, this is just a time to ask whether Nigeria’s leader really understands the times and season we are in. I would like to share this ancient word with our leaders on the expediency of ‘understanding the times’ and knowing what they ought to do for the country and states they govern.
In other words, as I was saying here, our leaders need to understand that most times, they don’t have to work with only their ‘permissive will’. They need to work with the perfect will of God for the people to prosper and be in good health.
This is the origin of why men should have understanding of their times: “… men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command” (1 Chronicles 12:32 NIV). As I was saying, often when believers talk about “understanding the times,” it is a common assumption that we are focusing on prophecies relating to the second coming of Christ. As much as we love studying these kinds of prophecies, they only present a limited scope of what God intends for us to be aware of in our culture and throughout the world. “Understanding the times” according to Dave Butts, is a mindset and a lifestyle that includes, but is not limited to, issues relating to the second coming of Christ. There was an amazing group of people in the ancient times who lived that kind of lifestyle. They are called in Scripture the “men of Issachar.” In the Chronicles, it was said that these men “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” We should therefore believe our Creator is still raising up a new generation of this kind of spiritually sensitive, discerning people today – so that we know what we ought to do in the world’s most populous black nation on earth. Scripturally speaking, true understanding comes from the fear of God. When we place ourselves before God and surrender our lives to His sovereignty, we begin to gain a more accurate understanding of what is happening, not only in our own lives but in the world around us.
As the Spirit of God permeates our lives and we do the right things, there is an increased awareness of His perspective on events. We no longer look at things around us from the limited perception of our own experiences, but are able to discern matters from the viewpoint of the one we call in our national anthem, ‘the God of creation’ we intentionally ask to ‘direct our noble cause’. That is why we may quickly add to our leaders and managers, rather than watching the news or reading the newspaper and shaking your head over bad events, why not add to your watching and reading a prayer for discernment? As world events unfold, instead of submitting to despair or anger, seek the God of creation’s insight over what is occurring. The result will be an understanding of the times we live in.
The historical context, however, does not end with the men of Issachar merely understanding the times. They also knew what Israel should do. This adds wisdom to knowledge. Knowing information is one thing. Having the wisdom to know what to do with that knowledge is immensely valuable, in this regard.
We live in turbulent times and there appears to be little understanding of the times. There is probably even less wisdom to know how to deal with those times. Which is why we hardly make progress even in our development strides. The economy is a shambles. Unbridled corruption has complicated economic woes. Nigeria isn’t a member of G-20: South Africa is and we are told our economy is bigger than theirs. Our currency is bleeding. BRICS countries, the authentic emerging markets are receiving applications from Iran, Argentina and other minors, Nigeria can’t apply because it isn’t qualified. The engine room of governance, the civil service has curiously collapsed. Chief of Staff to the President is now posting Permanent Secretaries in Abuja without recourse to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. In brotherhood we no longer stand. Tribes and tongues have become more complicated. Education is no longer attractive as teaching has become the most reproachful job. Our health sector is unhealthy as most of the good physicians have fled Buhari’s Nigeria. More are processing their papers to flee. The energy sector is fast killing industries as national grid has collapsed even as ‘national greed’ is growing luxuriantly like yam tendrils in this rainy season. No one remembers Nigeria’s legislature at all federal and state levels for any redemptive acts. They have become part of the ‘execu-thieve’ absurdities that have crippled us. Our citadel of justice isn’t reliable anymore. It appears that our public enemy number-one, corruption has been found in the temple of justice where ministers in the temple have been making election losers to be winners, inexplicably. Even justices are crying foul that their and our chief justice too is allegedly corrupt. Despite the petition of the 14 justices out of 15 against our CJN, he (CJN) the President the other day honoured the retired CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad with Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON). Besides, the Justice service rewarded the former CJN with N2.5 billion worth of retirement benefits. All of these are prevalent in Buhari’s Nigeria that he will hopefully hand over to a new leader on May 29, 2023. Let me ask again: does the president understand these difficult times in Africa’s most populous nation and the only hope of the black race?
Public confidence in the Judiciary is at a very low point. This must therefore receive the highest priority–Agbakoba
Ensure the updating of Legal Practitioners Act… Ethical behaviour and integrity of lawyers will restore public confidence – Adekoya
I don’t believe that any part of NBA should be higher than the body. It will destroy it – Ozekhome
The new President of the NBA should consistently speak up on Good Governance and Social Justice issues – Akaraiwe
Ensure the Bar continues to modernise and adapt to the rapidly changing world around it, especially in the area of technology – Okezie
The Bar must belong to lawyers, not classes of lawyers – Onu
We look forward to the NBA president restoring the dignity of our profession and upholding the rule of law – Ifesemen
ByLillian Okenwa
When the incoming President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, was asked how he intends to actualise and fulfill his campaign promises within his 24 months tenure during an interview, his response was:
Y. C. Maikyau, SAN
“It would appear that time is never really enough for meaningful leadership; yet, it has never been known to stand in the way of a visionary leader. In the time allotted by the NBA Constitution, I hope to build on programmes that are already working and lay the foundation for reform and restructuring of the profession to meet our short, mid, and long-term aspirations. I quite appreciate the brevity of the time; in fact, from the moment the administration is inaugurated, it will have less than two years to carry out its plans and programmes. Bearing this in mind, I have a detailed calendar of events designed to deliver on the promises made in my manifesto in phases, and working to deliver each aspect according to plan and on schedule.”
After a gruelling campaign and a tough battle to win the NBA presidency, Maikyau popularly called Y.C won. But that is only the beginning of the task ahead of him.
Olisa Agbakoba, SAN
To Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a former President of the NBA, “the task before the incoming President of the Bar will be to sustain the momentum of the institutionalization of the NBA. As president, my goal was making the secretariat the centre of action and this is a task the outgoing President, Olumide Akpata, has executed with perfection. So I will commend this process to the incoming President. The second task, having strengthened the secretariat, is engaging National issues. The big issue will be the 2023 general elections. The issues around governance, democracy, and constitutional reform must be paramount. Last and not least is the matter concerning the administration of justice. I would hope that this matter engages the new president. Public confidence in the Judiciary is at a very low point. This must therefore receive the highest priority. I can only wish the new president the very best.”
Funke Adekoya, SAN
Life Bencher, award-winning arbitrator and a former 1st Vice President of the NBA Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, counselled thus: “In my humble opinion, his most pressing task is to ensure that an updated Legal Practitioners Act which puts in place a robust self-regulatory mechanism to govern the relationship between the profession and members of the public is enacted. The ethical behaviour and integrity of lawyers will restore the confidence of the public in the profession and ultimately result in increased demand for legal services. He also needs to deal with the many encroachments by other professionals (accountants and estate surveyors especially) on the provision of legal services.”
Mike Ozekhome, SAN
Rights crusader, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN stressed that “the in-coming NBA President has a lot of work to do. To build on the enduring legacy of Mr. Olumide Akpata who I must confess has done exceptionally well having built on the foundation of Mr. Paul Usoro who also did extremely well.
Ozekhome pointed out that “in the last four years NBA has been having its voice heard on national issues in a way that the respectability with which Nigerians once viewed it but which receded and indeed got buried has again come back to the fore. NBA is now being reckoned with on national issues. Having said that, I must say that there’s so much rot in the judiciary; both within the bar and the bench. Cases of bribery, and corruption. Cases of lawyers, senior lawyers for that matter, even Senior Advocates meeting with judges Nicodemusly like Nicodemus in the night. To settle judgments extrajudicially so that when you’re in court with your opponent and you’re fighting, you’re just fighting a lost battle because that case has already been decided in the wee hours of the morning or in the midnight like witches and wizards in a coven.
“That is certainly not good for us at all. It is even believed that judges now fight to be included in election petitions tribunal where they know that desperate politicians must come before them dangling carrots to win election through the court of law which they had failed to win through the ballot box. I have therefore said Nigeria is practicing judocracy and electionocracy. Judocracy is the system where Presidents, Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members, even House of Assembly members, and Local Government Chairmen are now conceived, midwife, and delivered through the hallowed courts of law rather than the ballot box. That certainly is not good for society or for the judiciary. We should allow democracy to prosper and it can only prosper when the will of the people is expressed through the ballot box with that ballot paper.
“Thus exemplifying those immortal words of Abraham Lincoln in 1863 November 19, during his Gettysburg declaration when he defined democracy as —government of the people by the people and for the people. It means therefore that, it takes two to tango. If lawyers do not give, judges would not take. If judges do not take, lawyers will not give. We must stamp out this monstrous affliction.
“The new president must go all out to ensure that the present bill before the National Assembly for amendment wherein the NBA is deliberately being marginalised, being circumscribed, almost being annihilated does not see the light of the day. It is a bill that seeks to clip the wings of the NBA. It is even permitting a rival body or more rival bodies to emerge, just like you have ANAN and ICAN among the accountants, which has not given accountants one voice again in Nigeria. People who are not happy with the unity in the NBA are seeking to fragmentalise it. Once you fragmentalise NBA, we can no longer speak with one voice.
“Aside from that, there are certain positions in that bill which is seeking to put NBA under other bodies within the NBA. For example, I’m a proud member of BOSAN (Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria), but I believe that BOSAN is a part and parcel of the NBA, just as you have FIDA, the Women’s group, Youth’s forum, Military and Other Security Agencies forum under it and so on. I don’t believe that any part of NBA should be higher than the body. It will destroy it. For example when we’re at the Supreme Court during valedictory or special session, who speaks after the Attorney General of the federation? The Attorney General of the Federation is the chief law officer of the federation, who is next? Is it the Chairman of the Body of Benchers or the President of the NBA? I think these are some of the glitches that led to the public outburst between Chief Awomolo, SAN, and Olumide Akpata; one for the Body of Senior Advocates and one for the NBA. It was most embarrassing to the legal profession. The incoming president should seat down with the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and all stakeholders including the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, and arrive at a consensus once and for all. It should be in writing. Whether by amending the Legal Practitioners Rules, the Privileges Rules, and all the rules of professional conduct, the various rules of the General Council of the Bar, so that we know who takes precedence and so we don’t wash our dirty linens in the public.
“Then the new NBA president should take on holistically and frontally the malaise and problems of the society. We do not live outside the society, Nigeria is haemorrhaging. States and non-state actors are taking over governance of the country and calling the shots. Kidnappers have taken over, Boko Haram and armed bandits have taken over. Hunger is coming. We can’t travel on the road, we can’t fly and we can’t travel on the water. Bandits and terrorists are now seizing large swathes of land, collecting taxes, issuing tax tickets to indigenes, and mounting their flags on the soil in various northern states. They move about freely in droves as we saw in their breaking into Kuje prisons. Nothing happened. They even attacked the president’s convoy in his home state. This is evidence of a failed state where non-state actors begin to dictate the tune to the sovereign government. The new NBA President should therefore make NBA have a very strong voice on national issues, dictating the tone, whipping politicians into line, whipping judges and lawyers into line. So that we can have the beautiful country we dream of.”
Ikeazor Akaraiwe, SAN
Another 1stVice President of the NBA, Mr. Ikeazor Akaraiwe, SAN, made recommendations. “In 2006, at the November meeting of its National Executive Committee at Bauchi, the NBA formally rebranded into the following Conceptual Definition:
To be at the vanguard for the promotion and defence of the Rule of Law, Good Governance, Social Justice, and the Dignity of all persons.
“At the same NEC meeting the NBA also adopted the following Vision – ‘To rank among the foremost Bar Associations in the world’; Mission – ‘To use the Law As An Instrument For Social Change’; and replaced its Motto: ‘Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium ‘with a new one— ‘Promoting The Rule of Law.’ For good measure, the following Core Values were adopted: -Integrity, Excellence, Courage, Professionalism; with the following also adopted as Brand Responsibility- Courageous, Assertive, Independent, Leader.
“The next President of the NBA needs to internalise these things and implement them. For example, the NBA cannot concentrate on legal practice issues in the face of the many governance issues confronting Nigeria, vis a vis the NBA Conceptual Definition adopted in November 2006. I would therefore expect the new President of NBA to make a quiet retreat from concentrating on legal reform issues, to make his impact felt all over the Conceptual Definition, which is, ‘To be at the vanguard for the promotion and defence of the Rule of Law, Good Governance, Social Justice and the Dignity of all persons.’
“If the new President of the NBA will consistently speak up on Good Governance and Social Justice issues; if the dignity of Nigerians is the fulcrum of his administration, then and o my, then would he have succeeded.”
Kachi Okezie
The task before Maikyau according to Kachi Okezie, Principal Partner at Abuja-based sports, media, and entertainment law practice, Pembrooke Solicitors are:
1. To ensure the Bar never slips back to the pathetic state it was in, prior to Akpata coming in.
2. To continue with the drive for innovation on all fronts, ensuring the Bar continues to modernise and adapt to the rapidly changing world around it, especially in the area of technology. Today, the Bar is being looked up to for leadership and guidance by other professional bodies as well as the Federal Government in the area of tech-driven election delivery.
3. To continue to make the Bar fit for purpose in terms of its commitment to fighting for rule of law and justice in society, including creating opportunities for equal participation of all its members in its activities and programmes.
Silas Onu
Likewise, Silas Onu, a former Publicity Secretary of NBA Abuja (Unity Bar) charged the President-Elect: “To run an all-inclusive Bar, not one that will be a Bar for the SANs and other lawyers. The Bar must belong to lawyers, not classes of lawyers. He should also be a Bar President and steer clear of outside political activities as we head towards 2023 elections.”
Jude Ifesemen
Also, Jude Ifesemen, award-winning poet, lawyer, and principal partner of Ifesemen & Associates shared his thoughts. “For a while, the NBA Executive had been repurposed into just an oligarchy of a commercial venture. It was mainly about personal enrichment. Although Mr. Usoro tried to end that era of unnecessary financial expenditures, more was still left to be desired.
“Mr. Apata has so far been able to redirect the Bar from the money dominance despite the challenges and snobs he received from a particular demography. Kudos to Mr. Apata! I do hope, Mr. Y.C in taking the Bar to the Dynamic Bar would carry everyone along and completely end the practice where people use the NBA for their personal enrichment rather than service to the people and not caring about the welfare of the members.
“One expectation for Mr. Y.C Maikyau SAN is repurposing the bar for the real issues and focus that the Bar should be is the upholding of the rule of law and the welfare of the officers of Law, that is lawyers; so that they may be able to pursue and defend the rule of law.
“For a long time, our profession as a champion for the nation has been comatose with the homes of Judges being invaded by state officers against the principle of separation of powers and sanctity of the Judiciary with the NBA only playing the Ostrich or not committed enough to take a firm stand against administrative obscenities.
“The NBA lost its steam and was no longer heard or seen. Lawyers have become endangered species and officers of the state like the police have gone to feast on this silence to harass, intimidate and assault lawyers even in the course of their noble duties of clients’ representation.
“We look forward to the NBA president restoring the dignity of our profession and upholding the rule of law. We can no longer sit back as lawyers and allow the Government of the day to run the nation aground and be mute or applaud them in sponsored conferences to continue the privilege of their patronage.
“The habit of inviting guests as speakers at the NBA AGC whose purpose is the smart use of sophism to justify the maladministration and obscenities of government should not be repeated. The Rule of law must no longer take a backseat over whatever the President declares as issues of national security suo moto. Nigeria is our collective project and the NBA is a major stakeholder and must play its part.
“We hope that the new administration will uplift the bar, uplift the dignity of Lawyers and challenge the status quo. It is said that the court is the Last Hope of the common man but the court is still an engine run by lawyers. But if the lawyers themselves have sold their birthright over cheap morsels of government patronage, who then will cry for the voiceless? We do hope to see this change.”
The story is told of a former governor of a state in north-central Nigeria who approached his friend, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), for advice on a very pressing matter. The governor wanted this senior lawyer to advise him on whom among the candidates running to be president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the then ruling party should support. Mind you, the governor was not a member of the NBA nor was his party led by one. Somewhat perplexed, the lawyer asked the governor what his interest was in an association in which he was not a member. Without breaking a stride, the Governor is reported to have responded: “don’t you know that the NBA is too important to be left alone?”
To be eligible to vote in the NBA election, a member must belong to one of the Association’s 125 branches and must have paid their annual Bar Practising Fees (BPF) not later than 31 March in the election year. In 2022, 59,388 people met this threshold. Balloting was digital, supervised by an Electoral Committee (ECNBA), led by Ayodele Akintunde SAN.
Voting took place over 24 hours starting from midnight on 16 July. 34,809 people representing 59% of those eligible, voted. 1,346 or 2.26% of the ballots could not be delivered mostly because of errors in the addresses of the voters. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN received 22,342 or 64.6% of the votes to emerge as president-elect, beating Joe Kyari-Gadzama, SAN who received 10,842 or 31.4%. Jonathan Taidi took 1,380 or 4% of the votes to emerge third. There were healthy contests down ballot: Ms. Linda Bala received 21,717 or 66.3% of the votes cast to beat out two others for the office of first Vice-President, while Adegbite Adesina received 18,536 or 56.2% of the votes to emerge as the General Secretary-elect.
This biennial ritual in which the NBA elects its national leadership holds the attention of the country for good reason. The NBA is the largest professional association in the country (if not necessarily the oldest). It also packs a weight in both power and dysfunction way beyond the number of its voting members. When it works, the NBA is an exemplar and when it fails to do so, it is a drag on the country. Among the highlights from this latest round, there are five takeaways.
Universal Suffrage at the Bar is here to stay
Since 1998, the NBA has elected 14 presidents, all but four by indirect suffrage through delegates. The Association only returned with some reluctance to the system of one lawyer one vote in 2016. Ahead of the latest ballot, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, advocated that voting should return to the indirect system of delegates, blaming what he calls “indiscipline at the bar” on “so-called universal suffrage”. He cites no evidence to support such over-heated ante-diluvianism.
Fact is the votes that now decide who gets to lead the NBA are in the devices of young lawyers and many senior lawyers of the kind who may wish to lead the Association feel somewhat affronted at the idea of going to juniors to hustle for votes. This is precisely the appeal of One-Lawyer-One-Vote (OLOV). Any senior lawyer who lacks the humility to inspire the younger ones is probably undeserving of the high trust that leadership demands. Although it will not die entirely, the sentiment that seeks a return to the old days of the delegate system no longer commands serious attention. OLOV is here to stay.
There is no alternative to digital balloting
10 years ago, I led the advocacy for voting reform in leadership election at the Nigerian Bar, arguing that “the mechanisms for electing the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) are out-dated, scandal-prone and liable to whimsical capture.” Augustine Alegeh, SAN who led the NBA from 2014 to 2016 eventually enacted the reforms, in time for the 2016 leadership election.
The introduction of digital balloting did not, however, necessarily end the scandals. The 2016 ballot ended up in court over claims of serious “electoral infractions” and two lawyers are currently being prosecuted on allegations of having corrupted data in order to rig the 2018 elections. Predictably, skepticism about the integrity of digital balloting remains high in the NBA.
Three things have changed the landscape, however. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has somewhat normalized digital balloting for elections on the scale of the NBA and enhanced the technology solutions available for them. Second, the number of voters involved far outstrips the capacity of any venue in the country. Even if such a venue could be found, third, the insecurity crisis around Nigeria now makes it impossible to contemplate the kind of election jamborees that the NBA was famous for, where delegates from all over the country converged in one location.
The NBA must turn the page on its analogue cultures
Digital balloting has grown interest and participation in the NBA geometrically, quite apart from its revenues. The last time the NBA voted by delegates in 2014, there were only 1,728 eligible voters. In the first election by digital ballot in 2016, 6,932 lawyers were ultimately accredited and the winner received a mere 3,055 votes. In 2018, just a little over 16,000 members were accredited and 12,421 voted, with the person declared winner receiving a mere 4,509 votes. In 2020, 29,636 were eligible to vote but 18,256 actually did, with the winner receiving 9,891 votes. 59,388 who were eligible to vote in 2022 represents a 100% increase on the number in 2020, while the 34,809 voters who participated is 16,553 more than the number from two years ago, an increase of 90.1%.
In just six years, the number of voters participating in NBA’s elections has grown from 6,932 to 34,809, an increase of 27,877 or over 400%. Over the same period, the number of persons who paid their BPF equally grew about five-fold from about 12,000 to over 61,000. One upshot from this is growth in the NBA’s revenues, which promotes both its independence and its capacity to deliver services to members.
But deep suspicions remain in the NBA about the digital ecosystem. Many lawyers remain afraid of and others simply are unwilling to educate themselves about it. Tales of digital rigging of the NBA elections can sound like a mish-mash of Africa Magic and Sci-Fi. Staple fantasies about bots marauding inside “back-ends” or voting platforms altering votes reflect wide-spread illiteracy at the Nigerian Bar about how Cloud voting solutions work.
This is evidence of an analogue culture that is overdue for transformation. Underlying this culture is the NBA’s historically cavalier attitude to data management, which is how the rigging of #NBADecides2018 happened. The rigging in 2018 resulted from compromising the integrity of the NBA’s data and not from inserting anything into the “back-end”. The in-coming leadership of the NBA must build on the sound foundations laid by the current leadership of the Association.
An NBA President with well founded legitimacy is a good thing
Leadership contests in Nigeria invariably end up in court where lawyers and judges ultimately determine the winners and losers. In such a democracy by court order, the idea that lawyers can rig their leadership elections, is not merely bad for the Association, it is very bad for the country because the poverty of electoral values at the bar sooner or later becomes normalized for the country. A Bar leadership devoid of legitimacy cannot advocate for credible elections, as was the case with the compromised leadership of the NBA in Nigeria’s 2019 general elections. This is why an NBA president with well-founded legitimacy is a public good.
The ECNBA must rein in run-away campaign costs
Despite largely positive reviews that have trailed #NBADecides2022, serious areas of work remain. Perhaps the biggest issue is the cost of campaigns. In 2014, it was said that “money spoke very loudly. By some estimates, the NBA’s 2014 elections were the first in which campaign expenditure easily crossed the One billion Naira mark.” In 2022, the cost of a successful campaign for the presidency of the NBA is rumoured to have easily edged over the N2 billion mark.
Legitimate questions may be asked as to the sources of such sums and as to why they are needed to buy what is supposed to be a platform for service.
When the Association adopted electoral reforms in 2016, the goal was to significantly reduce campaign costs and level the money field. Over the years since then, however, including in 2022, the ECNBA has been shy of enforcing the ground rules for campaigning, turning the contest for leadership at the Bar into a monied ordeal. Infractions have attracted neither attention nor consequences.
This atmosphere of campaign impunity has to end. To do that, the ECNBA in 2024 can require all candidates and support groups within the Bar to designate and maintain campaign accounts which will be liable to inspection and audit. That would be a beginning.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu is a member of the ECNBA. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views contained in this article are personal.
The President of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem has lost another son.
Sources close to the family told Law & Society Magazine that the young man who was in his thirties died in his sleep yesterday morning (Saturday).
According to the source, “he was not sick. He went to bed the night before and didn’t wake up in the morning of Saturday. It’s unimaginable! It’s such a huge blow to the family. I don’t know how his mother is going to handle this considering that his brother died not too long ago. This is beyond shocking, to say the least. Only God can comfort the family over this calamity.”
The deceased son of Her Lordship who studied Mathematics at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State was a staff of the Federal Ministry of Transport in Lagos.
In 2012, Hon. Justice Dongban-Mensem lost her son Kwapda to a hit-and-run driver.
Kwapda who was a law graduate was preparing for Law School when he was hit by a vehicle at the busy Miners junction in Tundun Wada area of Jos city, Plateau State.
Re: Your Complaints against alleged Fundamental Irregularities and alleged Non-compliance in the NBA Election
We write further to our emails of 18 and 20 July 2022 acknowledging receipt of your letters of the 16 and 20 July 2022 in respect of the above.
As you are aware, the election of National Officers of the NBA and NBA representatives in the General Council of the Bar was held and concluded on 16 July 2022. It is on record that you attended the ECNBA Stakeholders Briefing and Press Conference on Friday 15 July 2022 (Briefing) which started at 6:30 pm on that day and for the better part of the time from the commencement of viewing of election results at 12:00 am when election opened on the 16 July 2022 to the end of voting at 11:59 pm on the same day you were in the situation room with other agents. The only period it was apparent you were absent from the situation room was when you left in the early morning to host a program “The Weekend Show” on AIT from 8:00 am -10:00 am. From the start of voting to 11:00 am on Saturday morning, the Chairman of the ECNBA and some of the Committee members, viewed the election results on the monitor with all agents of the candidates. The Chairman then took a break and came back a few hours later.
When you came back, you attempted to serve the ECNBA’s Secretary, Ms. Mabel Ekeke, with your letter under reference and she advised you to send it electronically to [email protected]. The Chairman of the ECNBA also vividly recalls that during one of the few times that the screen timed out, he announced to the agents that the ICT Service Provider sent a message that he wanted us to wait for 10 minutes before refreshing. All the agents agreed, and you in particular told the Chairman that you were a computer expert and we should not be refreshing as quickly as was being done. After waiting for the 10 minutes and it was refreshed the problem stopped for the next 9 hours or so before another time out incident occurred.
Be that as it may, the ECNBA, the Technical Support Consultant (Finesse Technologies) and the ICT provider (INITS/ElectionBuddy) have carefully reviewed the complaints in your letter and our responses to all your complaints are below:
Please note that the post-election duties of the TSC and ICT service providers are clearly provided for in Section 9 of Part III of Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution and they are expected to each submit a report to the ECNBA after completion of work. Such report shall be made available to Candidates on request and shall be safely stored. It will appear, therefore, that you have decided to pre-empt these all-important post-election activities by making the complaints in your letter under reference and drawing conclusions which, predictably, are grossly unfounded. We will now proceed to address your complaints.
Complaint No. 1
That Agents complained about the last-minute briefing which did not avail time for agents and IT experts of candidates to test the voting system and portal.
Agents including yourself who complained that the Briefing of 15 July 2022 was a “last minute briefing which did not avail ample time for the agents and IT experts of the Candidates to test the voting system and portal” appear to be unaware of the ECNBA’s activities or are simply being mischievous. The Briefing of 15 July 2022 was the 3rd of the many meetings/interactions/engagements with the Candidates and (other) stakeholders. The first was held on 2 June 2022, while the second was on 22 June 2022.
During the ECNBA’s Stakeholders Briefing of 2 June 2022, the ECNBA unveiled the Technical Support Consultant (Finesse Integrated Technologies Limited) (TSC)and carefully explained the rigorous process the ECNBA undertook before appointing the TSC. Only two of the companies that submitted proposals in the manner prescribed in its “Request for Proposal For Technical Support Consultant to the ECNBA – Submission Reminder Notice” dated 22 April 2022 were shortlisted. In the considered assessment of the ECNBA, the 3rd company from the proposal it submitted lacked the competence and capacity to act as a Technical Support Consultant and was never shortlisted.
On 22 July 2022, at the ECNBA’s Stakeholders Briefing, INITS Limited & ElectionBuddy (ICT Service Provider) were introduced to Candidates/Stakeholders for interactions, and the rigorous process adopted by the ECNBA to select them were explained. It is on record that during the Manifesto Day and Presidential Debate held on Thursday, 7 July 2022, both the ECNBA’s TSC and ICT provider respectively gave detailed presentations about their activities, the entire electoral process and voting platform at the hybrid event. The event was widely publicized, thousands of members of the Association participated virtually while most Candidates and their supporters were physically present.
Specifically, the ICT Service Provider carried out a demonstration of the electronic voting platform. From the time of the unveiling of the ICT Service Provider to the time of the Manifesto Day and Debates until 15 July 2022 at 6:25 pm, your Candidate/Principal failed to request to test the voting platform and portal.
You surely had to have been aware that your request to test the voting system and portal during the press briefing when the election was less than three (3) hours away was obviously neither practicable
nor realistic. In fact, in the assessment of the ECNBA, it was a calculated attempt to disrupt the electoral process. The ECNBA was not going to allow it and flatly rejected your request. That aside, your request manifestly showed your ignorance of the constitutional provisions guiding the ECNBA and all stakeholders regarding the electoral process and testing the voting system/platform and portal.
For your information, the duty to test the voting platform to be provided by the service provider is that of ECNBA and is not that of the Candidates or their IT experts (See Section 8 of Part III of the Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution). You can be rest assured that the ECNBA undertook this task as required by the NBA Constitution. Therefore, your allegation that “last minute briefing which did not avail ample time for the agents and IT experts of the candidates to test the voting system and portal” is totally baseless.
ElectionBuddy is a publicly accessible and secure online voting platform which allows anyone to sign up by themselves and run an election in just a few minutes for as many people as are desired. Payment is not required for small elections, allowing for walkthroughs, testing, and evaluation.
This means any agent or IT expert of any Candidate, or any Candidate particularly interested in testing the voting system would have been able to do this without any recourse to the ECNBA or consulting the ECNBA, its Technical Consultant or ICT Service Provider. Payment is not even required, you just need to go to the platform and sign up. The ICT Service Provider noted that over 50 individuals did this check, both before they voted and after voting. Having it this way even offers a high level of independence and an unbiased approach to evaluating the real system extensively. It is therefore shocking the position you have taken in your letter, a position that implies the ECNBA denied access to the ElectionBuddy system when in fact, we could not.
Information regarding the platform which would be used for the election – Election Buddy was made public by the ECNBA long before the election.
Complaint No. 2
Agents were excluded from the demo where random people were selected to participate in.
You have alleged that agents “were also excluded from the demo where random people were selected to participate in.” We are happy that you have confirmed by your statement that indeed there was (1) a demo and (2) random people were selected to participate in the demo. Your grouse is that agents were excluded. This allegation is another demonstration of your ignorance of the provisions of the NBA Constitution on the process of test running the ballot system. If you look at Section 7 of Part II of the Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution, there is nowhere in the Constitution that it is required for “agents” to participate in the test run of the balloting system. The ECNBA as it was entitled to do mostly selected random people (from the list of eligible voters) for the process which held on 14 July 2022 hence your allegation of not selecting agents is therefore baseless. In so doing, the ECNBA desired to avoid any appearance of working to a pre-determined outcome because the randomness meant that the people selected could not conspire to provide choreographed feedback on the system.
You are not a lawyer, neither are you on the list of eligible voters. How can the ECNBA invite you to participate in the demo process?
Complaint No. 3
At the briefing, representatives of INITS stated that live results will be available for all voters to see during the elections at the domain: http://go.nigerianbar.org.ng, however at the start of the election, up to this moment, this option was not made available only agents in the situation room had access to the live result.
As shown below the presentation slide being referenced, it was clear that information on the election would be made available on go.nigerianbar.org.ng. The messaging on the slides during the presentation was also clearly written as follows –
“Sit tight and wait for the announcement of the results or visit go.nigerianbar.org.ng for the latest
information on the elections.”
This was specifically for viewing the latest information that may be posted or useful for voters and not viewing the real-time results. It is not evident to us where your position on this emanated from.
The link was eventually updated from go.nigerianbar.org.ng to go.ecnba.ng since go.ecnba.ng was already active and had been circulated to the list of eligible voters by Email and SMS. To avoid confusing voters, one URL was retained for Election Information – go.ecnba.ng. And as promised, the go.ecnba.ng contained the latest information on the elections, and was updated multiple times during the election as promised.
This link go.ecnba.ng is a main hub of information for Eligible Voters participating in the election and was also sent in an Email to them. It contained and still contains the following sections:
Frequently Asked Questions.
Video Guide of the General Voting Process.
Important Notices.
Information for Getting Help.
Information about DND and How to Deactivate this.
Link to Information about Eligible Voters.
After the announcements of results, a link to the results page was also posted on the same website of go.ecnba.ng, leading to the same page used in the situation room for displaying running tallies of voting.
Complaint No. 4
Agents also requested back-end access to view the voting portal as required under international best practices, this request was rejected.
Access to view the live updates of the election was made available in the situation room and presented on the large media screen. The same view was made available to all.
Complaint No. 5
It is also important to state that despite assurances of the ECNBA and the technology provider INITS Limited on the suitability of the voting site www.electionbuddy.com, between the hours of 1am to 3am there were repeated error messages while viewing the live results (error; 502 bad gateway). The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP 502 Bad Gateway server error response code) indicates that the server while acting as a gateway or proxy received an invalid response from the upstream server.
HTTP 502 and HTTP 504 errors, though avoidable, are not uncommon when systems doing a lot of processing are being accessed repeatedly. They can occur for several reasons, in addition to being initiated by the provider, including the number of routes or hops that a browser needs to do to access the site, which is dependent on the accessor, not the provider. However, there are also some items that relate directly to the infrastructure and process of the provider, ElectionBuddy.
According to ElectionBuddy, in designing the ElectionBuddy Cloud voting infrastructure, the election results interface and the voting interface was separated to ensure that voters can vote seamlessly irrespective of traffic viewing the results and the resources required for the results review.
For example, the marketing and information website of ElectionBuddy is https://www.electionbuddy.com and it is completely separated from https://secure.electionbuddy.com/ {voting-link} for voting and also separate from the results displaysection. This is the same kind of separation that large enterprises like banks use – there is a clear separation of Internet Banking portals from their Marketing Websites.
With the foreknowledge that many thousands of eligible voters and many thousands of visitors will be visiting the election platform to vote, the user-facing interface of the presentation of the election results was kept separate from the process of voting to ensure that voters are able to vote seamlessly irrespective of traffic viewing the results.
A gateway acts to direct traffic for a particular service to the server or cluster of servers that can respond to the request.
The ICT Service Provider notes that ElectionBuddy runs a highly secure system with Web Application Firewalls, Load Balancers and Distributed Processing due to the sensitivity of the work it does and the role it has played for over a decade and in elections such as this. As a result of this, each time there is a request to view the election results, the results viewing service recomputes the options chosen by every voter that has submitted their ballot and compares this against the hash (confirmation code) it generated when the ballot was submitted. This computation and confirmation process is important because it acts as one of the mechanisms for detecting any tampering or manipulation of information or attempts to do so. This is done to ensure that the integrity of the ballots, selections and vote are preserved. One of the most critical features of a secure e-voting system is that it is tamper-free so that votes can’t be changed without detection.
Therefore, this computation process for the presentation of results is a highly computing-intensive process and is dependent on the number of voters eligible to vote and the number of voters who have voted at that point. This can take several minutes each time the vote is counted and increases with larger voter and eligible voter populations. According to the ICT Service Provider, to ensure that the process does not generate runaway queries and so that they can detect anomalies and issues, they meter the process and issue a time out if the process appears to be running longer than expected, and they wanted to ensure that the voting process continued irrespective of results presentation. The capture of the vote that occurs before the results presentation, and the results presentation during voting is at a point in time, and the compilation of the results during the vote takes time and computing resources. When a conflict between these two items exists, especially in the case when thousands of voters access the platform to vote, precedence is given to capturing the vote, to ensure that ultimately the results are presented fairly both during and at the completion of the vote.
According to the ICT Service provider, this is why the process may time out and result in the 502 bad gateway error as the gateway expected the computation to finish within a short wait time and the process timed-out. The ICT Service Provider noted that multiple, repeated concurrent result viewing requests can result in the time out, and given voting patterns are typically unknown, and it was the case in this instance, different than occurred in the 2020 NBA Elections. However, it was not an indication of any problem with the balloting process, votes cast or selections throughout the election process. And to address the timeout issue, the wait time was significantly increased during the vote, reducing re- occurrences of the bad gateway error and allowing for a more seamless viewing of the results while voting was occurring. The ICT Service Provider noted that after the pattern was identified mid-vote, there were no time out instances in the last 8-hour period and in the final compilation, which is what they viewed as crucial.
This is also not symptomatic of lack of capacity, but more because of the anxiety of the agents in the situation room requesting for second-by-second refreshing of the page thereby causing the results interface to behave in ways different from how it was ordinarily designed, and applications are designed not to blindly respond to such request, otherwise the application will become susceptible to Denial-of-Service attacks.
Complaint No. 6
This makes us question the credibility and efficiency of the portal which promised to handle a 100,000-voter capacity.
The capacity of the ElectionBuddy platform to handle large numbers of voters has been tested over time, including one that had 100,000 voters. Furthermore, we are not aware of any complaints regarding unavailability of the ElectionBuddy platform for voting. The ICT Service Provider monitored the infrastructure uptime during the election. The Service for voting on the ElectionBuddy platform is configured for high availability and they did not encounter incidents on the platform that impacted access to voting. Instead, the ECNBA has seen several commendations of the process by many of the voters both during and after this vote and ease experienced by eligible voters who voted during the election.
Complaint 7
Agents and stakeholders were also requested graphical representation of the results which would show details according to branches. This was not made available during the election period.
The request for a graphical representation of information according to branches was made quite late and would have required changes to the platform. According to the ICT Service Provider, this kind of change is considered significant and significant changes, such as this one, are not advisable this close to an election as the time available would not permit the necessary scoping of the changes required, development, validation, testing, quality assurance and stringent integrity checks and signoffs from multiple people prior to deployment and rollout. It was therefore not practical, nor pragmatic and was likely to detract at that point in time from the credibility of the process. This was explained to the agents and stakeholders, so it was shocking to see this registered as an issue in the letter.
More Importantly, having run elections for more than a decade, experience has shown that gerrymandering becomes exponentially easier to do and more impactful when you provide information during a live election that allows Candidates or their agents to know where votes are yet to come from and not just who is winning. This can result in both pressuring voters to vote or not to vote because the voters have been unduly exposed to targeted persuasion by Candidates or their agents.
Furthermore, the anonymity requirement for voters will not permit access to or display of the specific selections by voters and therefore actual voting representation by a voter or branch cannot be presented live.
However, now that the election is over, the ICT Service Provider will use data available post-election and create a graphical representation of the voter participation numbers according to which branches will be provided as part of the comprehensive post-election reports.
Your request for a forensic audit of the election and the results logs.
The post-election duties of the TSC and ICT service providers are clearly provided for in Section 9 of Part III of Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution and they are expected to each submit a report to the ECNBA after completion of work. Such report shall be made available to candidates on request and shall be safely stored.
The purpose of the certification by ElectionBuddy is to review the voter list, voting process, examine the results, and inquiries of management. The review and results of those procedures must provide a reasonable basis to confirm the report. We refer to the section above on anonymity as this was promised to voters and must be retained. For auditing the outcome, the list of confirmation codes, as well as list of voters that participated in the voting process is made part and parcel of the post-election reports by the Service Providers. Once the report is made available, we direct that you read other parts of the report and check the background of the signer, the ElectionBuddy President, who has no vested interest in this vote or the related results. In the circumstances, we have no constitutional obligation to grant your request for a forensic audit of the election and the results logs.
We advise that once the reports of the TSC and ICT Service Provider are ready and available, you should please make a request for same.
In conclusion, your expert opinion in numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of your letter of 20 July 2022 makes a mockery of your claim as a Computer/Forensic Expert. The electoral process at all material times revolved around the three-cardinal points of integrity, confidentiality and availability and there was nothing to lead to any reasonable doubt in the security of the election process:
The server errors were both easily detected and explained and the support provided by the ICT Service Provider does not provide any room for any doubt as to its stability and security at any point in time.
The electoral process was transparent at all times – pre-election, election day and post-election and the NBA Constitution is clear that the ECNBA is the body charged to test the voting platform and it duly carried out the function. To ask the ECNBA to grant any Candidate the kind of access that you sought when you sought it, amounts to asking the ECNBA to commit institutional suicide. That is clearly not part of the ECNBA’s brief.
In addition, you had every opportunity to visit the Electionbuddy platform to conduct your independent investigations and our response in Complaint Number 5 has answered any issue on transparency of the platform and every question relating to the website. Once again, www.electionbuddy.com is different from https://secure.electionbuddy.com/ where the election was conducted.
The ECNBA complied with all the relevant constitutional provisions relating to opening of the voting, close of the voting and announcement of the results. As an agent, it would have been more helpful if you had endeavoured to acquaint yourself with the relevant provisions of the NBA Constitution. That would have spared you some of the embarrassment evident on the face of your correspondence.
The 2022 election of National Officers of the NBA and NBA Representatives to the General Council of the Bar was conducted in strictest accordance with the provisions of the NBA Constitution and with international best practices for digital ballots. It was transparent, free fair and credible. For your information, nearly all the agents who were in the Situation Room on the day of the election signed a declaration form indicating that they were satisfied with the conduct of the elections in the Situation Room as well as the outcome of the election.
Reactions have continued to trail the letter written by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Mr. Olumide Akpata which requested Chief Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to recuse himself from office as chairman of the Body of Benchers (BoB).
But as the legal community was still digesting the hell-raising letter occasioned by allegations of professional misconduct by Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde, a Partner in the Law Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co, a rather intriguing WhatsApp post was credited to another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Yomi Alliyu. The post reads: “President Akpata, una do well ooooo! Yoruba lawyers shall be there in full force to defend our leader and Primus inter Peres! No Yoruba son shall ever be made a sacrificial lamb like it was done to Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN! Call it what you like! Tribalism! Yes! What an insult! We are Yorubas before we are Nigerians!”
Akpata in the now controversial letter asked Olanipekun to recuse himself from the Chairing the BoB on the grounds that the Chairman shared a working relationship with the Lawyer before the LPDC, and as Chairman of the Body supervising the LPDC, a conflict of interest was likely to arise.
In a Facebook post, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, SAN noted that “NBA President Akpata’s advise to Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN pertains to questions of professional misconduct, ethics, and professional responsibility,” while expressing displeasure over the comments of Yomi Alliyu, SAN.
“The comment attributed to Yemi Aliyu, SAN that attempts to divert the issues to mundane tribal discussions is terribly disappointing and unfortunate. If those statements were truly made, then we have a dangerous precedent in the profession, especially coming from a Senior SAN. Such a statement from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria engages in conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner and deserves disciplinary action.”
Yomi Alliyu is the Lawyer to popular Yoruba land agitator, Sunday Igboho.
J.S. Okutepa, SAN, one of the longest-serving prosecutors at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) described the comments as unfortunate.
“I really don’t think it is fair to rake up Kunle Kelajaye SAN prosecution before LPDC as an ethics agenda. That will be the most unfortunate thing to do coming as it were from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The petition that led to the prosecution of Mr. Kelajaye was not initiated outside Yoruba land. I prosecuted that complaint after due investigations and a prima facie case of professional misconduct was made. I have no regrets about that prosecution. If we are not careful we the leaders of the Bar will completely ruin this profession. I have no comment on the decision of the NBA under the subject of discussion. But to bring the case of Kunle Kelajaye SAN as persecution of Yoruba lawyers is with due respect a statement not to be made concerning the prosecution of Kunle Kelajaye SAN. The allegations against Kunle Kelajaye were not found to have been baseless. His appeal at the Supreme Court was allowed on the technical points of quorum of LPDC and not that the allegations of professional misconduct were not proved. We must avoid comments that are inciting and befitting our status as senior lawyers.
“In addition let it be known that the allegations against Mr. Kunle Kelajaye was that he was communicating with judges of the Election Petitions Tribunal. The judges involved Justice Naron was tried found culpable and removed from office as a judicial officer. He was dismissed. The petition against Kunle Kalejaye was duly investigated by a panel headed by an eminent legal practitioner of great repute Mrs. Funke Adekoya SAN, a legal icon and an Amazon of extraordinary integrity. The judge that was removed by NJC. We must avoid anything that will make us a laughing stock in the comity of respected legal practitioners. What is bad is bad. No ethics colouration can make it right. I say no more. When you read the Rules of Professional Conduct in the legal profession you will appreciate that as lawyers we are supposed to be the light of the society. Light and dark tolerate not one another. They cannot cohabit.”
Also weighing in on the matter, a Law Professor and a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said: “There is now a tyranny of a provincial, artisanal mindset that treats SAN as a nativity rite, not in any way different from a Chieftaincy title…”
Then in response to Ebuka Nwaeze, an Abuja lawyer who remarked— “The SAN should as well face disciplinary proceedings for this comment. By this, he is suggesting that Kalejaiye SAN was improperly and unjustly found wanting and treated outside the requirements of the law; and Ogunbi is being unjustly called to account. A lawyer, not to talk of a Senior Advocate, ought not to speak like that, except he has a factual basis. He needs a forum and a day before the LPDC or LPPC to explain what he meant or face the hammer. Mr. President @Olu Akpata, kindly direct that appropriate steps be taken, sir. Senior advocacy is an emblem of excellence and this comment makes a mess of the expectation from a holder of that rank,” Odinkalu further stated:
“That will be an own goal, in my respectful view. Among its functions, free expression enables idiots to reveal themselves in the full majesty of their nakedness. It is no use thereafter trying them for professional misconduct. First, by doing that, you ennoble them in ways they are unfit for. Second, you distract attention from their self-inflicted nakedness. Third, you could even elevate them to martyrdom. There is nothing that says or guarantees that the exercise of free expression will mean we hear only what we like. But, look, if this guy did not say this stuff, would you have known what kind of creature masquerades under cover of Silk? I will continue to defend the right of this particular SAW (Senior Advocate of Whatever) to make a fool of himself. Let’s glorify free expression, please! As we say in my village: Eku Yomi Aliyu oh !”
Recall that the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, (ACJN), Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had said the challenges of the legal profession were self-inflicted and that the NBA had a burden to ensure legal practitioners kept to the ethics of the profession. He was the keynote speaker at the NBA Section on Legal Practice (SLP) 2022 Annual Conference in Asaba, Delta State, with the theme: “Legal Practice in Nigeria: Our Reality, Our Future.”
In the petition marked BB/LPDC/901/2022, and sent to the LPDC on July 20, 2022, John Aikpokpo-Martins, first vice-president of the NBA, said the issue “brought unprecedented shame, ridicule, opprobrium and odium to the entire justice system and the legal profession in Nigeria.” As a result, the NBA prayed “the committee to immediately commence the disciplinary process and prosecute ADEKUNBI OGUNDE Esq. for the violation of the sacred provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, particularly Rule 1 thereof…”
In the meantime, Nigerian Law School lecturer, Sylvester Udemezue has said a fair-minded investigation into the matter is in the interest of Chief Olanipekun SAN. Reacting to a statement by Aik Malik, SAN who said the President is merely playing to the gallery, Udemezue said: “Dear Learned silk sir, I think (with respect) many grounds exist upon which this your comment could be faulted. The issues at stake go far beyond how simple you try unsuccessfully to make it look like. Besides, sir, I think a fair-minded investigation into this matter is in the very best interest of my respected oga, Chief Olanipekun SAN, considering that all facts are already in the public domain, and the scenario has created too many wrong impressions about him, which need to be cleared through an independent investigation, geared towards restoring the public confidence in his status as an icon and a leading light for upcoming generations of lawyers in Nigeria…
“Dear learned silk sir, LPDC may not (as you suggested) be directly controlled by the BOB. But do you agree that LPDC Members are appointed by the BOB? Do you agree also that the LPDC is an arm of the BOB? What do you say about the reasons cited by Mr. Ukala, SAN, for resigning his membership of the LPDC? Does Mr. Ukala’s letter/actions not raise reasonable suspicion that the BOB (especially the BOB Chairman) has the capacity to influence the LPDC? What does this say about Nemo judex, especially in this instance where the BOB Chairman himself is in the eye of the storm? What does this say about the application of the rules relating to the likelihood of bias in this case? Nemo Judex in Causa Sua!”
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi has given a hint to what will end the incessant strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and stabilise the nation’s university system.
Obi dropped the code when he spoke at the reunion dinner of the products of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
While speaking at the event, Obi challenged the Nigerian universities management to ask how other public universities in successful countries do it.
He lamented that while most of the prime overseas universities he attended for his advanced degrees keep a tab on him and write him annually to contribute to his alma mater foundation, an assured project that keeps the universities liquid, he said his main alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) never asked of his whereabouts since he graduated.
Obi said his alma mater, Harvard University where he did a business and management course writes him every year for his contribution to the foundation, while the University of Cambridge also does.
“But Nsukka never cared to call or write me, not for once. I had once asked the university why UNN would not be liquid with over 200,000 products alive and doing well. I challenged the Vice Chancellor to draw up a list of about 50,000 graduates who would each pay N100,000 annually. That will earn the university N5 billion. With that, I doubt if they will still have issues with funding to lead to strikes and the truncation of our university programmes.”
Speaking further, the former governor of Anambra State quipped: “As I said, the overseas universities I passed through everyday update me on world issues, including the Ukraine war. Every year, Cambridge writes all the products and get as much as 500 pounds from each student and more from others. That is why the university can boast of at least one billion pounds endowment fund.
In Harvard University, the same endowment fund is as much as $50 billion. From Cambridge, I have my alumnus number but I don’t have that of Nsukka where it all started. Everyday, we are begging for money.
So, the day I visited UNN, I told them that out of over 200,000 that have passed through here who are still alive, you can get 50,000 of them to contribute N100,000 every year and that is some N5 billion.
I even promised the VC that I would champion it and every year, I will pay N20 million because I pay as much as that in Cambridge and Harvard, so why can’t I pay it in Nsukka? If a university has an assured N5 billion income from such fund every year, we would not be talking about ASUU or any university workers’ union strike. It is not possible. We suffer all these because we don’t have a system.
It is critical that we find a different way of funding universities in Nigeria. That is what we need to survive as a devastated country operating a devastated economy.
We have no excuse to have the highest number of citizens living in poverty, even higher than the two most populous countries put together, that is China and India whose population jointly amounts to 2.8 billion.
We have the highest number of out-of-school children and our economic inequality is the most alarming globally with one percent of the population in possession of 75% of the entire wealth of the country. We need to take urgent steps and resolve these issues and fast too.”
ASUU has been on strike with all public universities in Nigeria shut since February 14, 2022.
With this shameful development, over 3.2m Nigerian students have been wasting and lost a total of over 320 million study days at 20 days a month and some 2.304 billion lecture hours at six hours per day per student.
This number of lost 320 million days translates to an alarming 876,712 years.
This analysis examines the rationale for the removal of directors of public limited companies in two common law jurisdictions; Nigeria and the United Kingdom. It assesses case law and policy considerations in both countries, and further afield.
It is pertinent to first establish the preliminary foundations.
Section 4 (2) (a) and (b)of the Companies Act 2006, UK, defines a Public Limited Company or Plc. (the focus), as one limited by shares or limited by guarantee and having its certificate of incorporation expressly stating it is a public company; and in relation to which the requirements of the statute, former statutes as to registration and re-registration as a public company have been complied with on or after the relevant date. Section 58 (1) thereof establishes that a company that is a Public Limited Company must end with the words “public limited company” or the abbreviation “Plc.” A public company’s authorised minimum relative to the nominal value of its allotted share capital is £50,000 or the prescribed euro equivalent pursuant to section 763 (1) (a) and (b) therein.
In Nigeria, section 24 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 establishes a public company as any company, except a private company, with its memorandum of association clearly defining it as a public company. Also, section 27 (2) (b) thereto affirms N2, 000, 000 (Two million naira) as the minimum issued share capital therein.
A consideration of directors’ duties warrants an examination too. That’s because it is the breach of those duties, and the seriousness thereof, which will invoke civil or criminal sanctions and/or personal liability, and then, depending on the particular factual circumstances, removal as a director. Section 269 (1) CAMA 2022 defines a director as a person “duly appointed by the company to direct and manage the business of the company”; and section 269 (2) CAMA establishes a rebuttable presumption in favour of any person dealing with the company that all the persons described by the company as directors, whether executive or otherwise, are duly appointed.
Conversely, the Companies Act 2006 UK does not expressly define a ‘director.’ However, section 250 thereof establishes that it includes ‘any person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called. To that extent, the UK enactment examines the functionality of the role devoid of its nomenclature. Simply, therefore, a public company could characterise its directors as executive council members, governors, trustees etc, and they would still be recognised as such at law; so long as the role aligns with the company’s objects, articles and the minutiae of the said person’s employment contract.
In common law and equity jurisprudence, directors stand in a fiduciary relationship with the company they run and are mandated to act in utmost good faith relative to their direct and vicarious acts on behalf of the company. The statute reinforces this important principle and imposes stiffer obligations on directors.
Accordingly, directors are under a statutory duty to act strictly within their powers; promote the success of the company; exercise independent judgment; act with reasonable care, skill and diligence; avoid conflict of interests; neither accept bribes nor gifts which would not only compromise their objectivity but constitute legal infractions; declare their interests in proposed transactions and arrangements. Authorities for these claims are enunciated in sections 171, 172, 173, 174,175, 176 and 177 of the Companies Act 2006.
Apart from shareholders, directors’ duties are also owed to those who, within reasonable contemplation, may be affected by their acts or omissions. The case of Lonrho vs Shell Petroleum Co Limited [1981] 2 All ER 456, illustrates this point. The House of Lords (now UK Supreme Court), observed that the interests of the company ‘are not exclusively those of the shareholders but may include those of its creditors’.
The UK Insolvency Act 1986 also affirms this logic in that it imposes a positive obligation on directors to take every reasonable step to minimise losses to creditors whenever it becomes highly probable that a company faces inescapable insolvency.
The aforementioned UK Companies Act 2006 provisions, relative to directors’ duties, are pretty much reflected in sections 305 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9); 306, 307, 308 and 309 of CAMA 2020. These include the director’s fiduciary duties to the company and acting in good faith; avoiding conflicting interests; not acting as directors in more than five companies; acting with due care and skill; acting, as the circumstances justify, as agents and trustees of the company’s assets, money, properties; exercising accounting duties et al.
An exception to the execution of directors’ duties is established in sections 588 (1), (2) and (3) CAMA 2020 is winding up cases. The court-appointed liquidator in that case steps into the shoes of the directors and assumes all their powers to institute or defend any action on behalf of the company, carry on the business of the company so far as it is maybe necessary for its beneficial winding up; settle all creditors in full, sell company property et al. The case of Ekeng vs Polaris Ltd [2021] 2NWLR 401 illustrates this point.
Having established directors’ duties above, attention turns to the infractions therein, which can not only trigger disqualification in both jurisdictions but also depending on the gravity, attract criminal sanctions, and civil and/or personal liability. The trigger for directors’ removal could arise internally from shareholders or externally from regulators and/or law enforcement institutions. Accordingly, if shareholders, whistleblowers, and officers are sufficiently concerned that directors are acting contrary to the contractual terms of their engagement and violating the articles and company’s objects, they could well seek to remove such officers to protect the company from financial and/or reputational meltdown.
Examples of such serious breaches could be a failure to provide a safe working environment, fraud, persistently failure to file and keep proper accounting records or foreign policy breaching trade embargoes against hostile nations. To put this in context, in 2020 the U.S. government imposed trade sanctions against 11 Chinese companies for alleged complicity in human rights violations in the Xinjiang province. The affected Chinese companies were restricted from purchasing American technology without a special licence. American company directors that violated the embargo faced criminal sanctions aside from probable disqualification!
Furthermore, the defence of ignorance of the law is generally untenable. This was established in Grupo Torras SA v AL Sabah (No 5) [2001] 1 CL 75; where it was stated that foreign persons who accept UK companies’ directorships must engage with the obligations emanating from those positions by the governing English law.
By virtue of section 288 CAMA 2020, a company may by ordinary resolution remove a director before the expiration of his period of office, notwithstanding and provisions to the contrary in the company’s articles or subsisting contract. The provision requires a special notice of any resolution to remove a director or appoint an alternative without breaching the said director’s fundamental rights to a fair hearing or his right to seek compensation for damages.
Similar provisions are contained in section 168 of the UK’s Companies Act 2006, UK, in that a company may by ordinary resolution at a meeting remove a director before the expiration of his period of office, notwithstanding anything in any agreement between it and him. A special notice is required of a resolution to remove a director under the section or to appoint somebody instead of a director so removed at the meeting at which he is removed. Equally, it provides that a person appointed director in place of a person removed is treated, for the purpose of determining the time at which he or any other director is to retire, as if he had become director on the day on which the person in whose place, he is appointed was last appointed a director. Again, neither provision constrains the rights of the director so removed from seeking compensation for damages in court on the merits therein.
Important authorities to examine in this context include Colin Gwyer & Associates Ltd and Another vs London Wharf (Limehouse) Ltd [2002] EWHC 2748 (Ch), where the High Court ruled that a director who showed “willful blindness” to creditors and the company’s interests violated his fiduciary duty to the company. In Item Software (UK) Ltd v Fassihi [2002] EWHC 3116 (Ch), it was held that a director has a heightened duty to expose a breach of duty. The facts are short. A director failed to disclose an interest in a commercial venture in which he had a direct interest. This constituted a fraudulent concealment and the company was entitled to recover damages from the director. The inference here is that the circumstances of these cases constitute the basis for the removal of erring directors and that they also could be sued in their personal capacities.
To conclude, directors exercise significant responsibilities in the proper running of public companies and must ensure that the overriding aims of effective organisational performance, consistently optimising value for shareholders, regulatory compliance and acting with utmost good faith are non-negotiable to maximise their market appeal and competitiveness. Plus, the sanctions for non-performance and director’s negligence are only too stark as illustrated above. Ojumu is Principal Partner at Balliol Myers LP, a firm of legal practitioners in Lagos, Nigeria.
The last decade has witnessed the rapid growth of technology in Nigeria. According to the Center For Global Development, Nigeria is positioned as the largest tech market with 90 tech hubs and a growing customer base.“ Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, the sector contributed 15 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).”
According to Statista, the data company, the number of start-ups in Nigeria in Nigeria is around 3,300. The highest in Africa. Nigeria is followed by South Africa and Kenya in this regard. Bolstered by an entrepreneurial spirit and increased investor capital, the number of start-ups in Nigeria is expected to increase over the next five years.
Start-ups, by their nature, are known for having a fail fast system – a design system which encourages early business failures and enables you to get quick, quality feedback about what works and what does not, in relation to the product the start-up is producing. This concept may work for optimising products however one must remember that a start-up is also a business.
In a bid to become the next big tech unicorn, start-ups and their founders must ensure that they tie up all legal loose ends.
Why start-ups need legal agreements?
A common mistake by start-up founders is the belief that legal agreements and documents are not necessary at the beginning of a business. Perhaps, convinced of the need.
Common mistakes made by start-up founders include:
Not incorporating their businesses or incorporating the business in the wrong jurisdiction or under the wrong category.
Not protecting their intellectual property.
Failure to give early employees contracts.
Failure to define the relationship between founders, if any.
Failure to provide non-disclosure agreements.
And so on.
The problems listed above and many more make airtight legal agreements a need and not a luxury for early-stage start-ups.
This article explores important legal agreements/documents needed by early-stage start-ups.
Certificate of Incorporation:
A certificate of incorporation is a document given by the corporate affairs commission, which signifies the existence of a company and the legal right for that company to do business.
Under Nigerian law, there are 4 practicable types of companies, namely;
Under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, section 746 provides for a new business structure in the form of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). This business structure has the flexibility and tax status of a Partnership and also the limited liability status of a Company. it is also a legal entity with perpetual succession. This makes it an excellent alternative for start-ups that may not want to incorporate a company.
Founders Agreement.
A Founders’ agreement is a legally binding document between the founders of a start-up. Everything from who’s engaged, how much they’ll give, each co-founder’s roles and responsibilities, stock ownership, legal services, and what happens if someone leaves can be covered. It’s a legally binding contract that protects each founder’s interests, and it should be written at the start of the company’s lifecycle (together with the business plan) to get it all out on the table before a group of co-founders jumps in.
Essential contents of a Founders’ Agreement include the name and designations of the founders, the name of the company, the ownership structure of the company, the initial capital, and additional contributions, budgetary expenses and breakdowns, and the roles and responsibilities of each co-founder, equity and vesting clauses, the salary, and compensations for the co-founders, Intellectual property assignments, what should happen in the event of the departure or removal of a founder and ways of resulting any disputes.
It is particularly important once a start-up has more than one founder.
Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)
This is a relatively new type of start-up agreement introduced by the start-up accelerator, Y-Combinator in 2013. It is an important instrument for start-ups that are fundraising.
SAFEs are made by a company and an early investor in order to create
future equity in the company for the investor in consideration for the investor’s immediate cash to the company. The purpose of the agreement is that it converts to equity at a later round of financing but only if a particular event, which is contained in the agreement, takes place.
Although similar to convertible notes, SAFE agreements differ from convertible notes in that while the former is a contract that may be converted into equity in future financing rounds, a convertible note is a short-term debt that converts into equity in the future financing round.
Clauses found in a SAFE agreement include Discount, Valuation Cap, Pre-Money/Post Money valuation measurements, Pro-Rate Rights, and Most-Favoured Nations Provisions.
Shareholders’ Agreements.
A shareholders’ agreement is a contract between a company’s shareholders that explains how the business should be run as well as the rights and responsibilities of its shareholders. The shareholders’ agreement ensures all shareholders are treated fairly and that individual rights are guaranteed.
It also grants shareholders the ability to decide which external parties may become future shareholders and protects minority positions.
A shareholders’ agreement includes a date; the number of shares issued; a capitalization table that outlines shareholders and their percentage ownership; any restrictions on transferring shares; pre-emptive rights for current shareholders to purchase shares to maintain ownership, and details on payments in the event of a company sale.
Non-Disclosure Agreement.
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a contract that states that particular information will be kept private. As a result, an NDA binds the individual who signs it, prohibiting them from sharing any information contained in the contract with anybody who is not permitted. Trade secrets, client information, and other sensitive or valuable information are frequently protected by NDAs.
This law outlines the legal framework for protecting ideas and information against theft or sharing with third parties. Defaulting on a nondisclosure agreement can lead to a host of legal consequences including lawsuits and financial penalties.
Important clauses in a confidentiality agreement include the definition of “confidential”; the duration of the agreement; exceptions to the confidentiality agreement if any; jurisdiction and governing laws and a dispute resolution clause.
Employment Contract
An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and an employee that specifies the length of the employee’s employment.
It can be implied, oral, or written, and it usually involves the employee signing a lengthy physical contract. The conditions in the employment contract are usually determined by what was agreed upon when the employee decided to take on the job.
Clauses found in an employment contract are; name, job title and description, salary and compensation, dispute resolution, severability, and independent legal advice.
Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement.
For many early-stage start-ups, having complete ownership of their intellectual property is of extreme importance.
An intellectual property assignment agreement assures investors that the intellectual property needed to run the company has been legally transferred to the company by the founders. This, in turn, boosts investor confidence in the start-up the effect of which is the attraction of much-needed funding to early-stage start-ups.
Data Protection Guidelines
The documents above are by no means an exhaustive list of essential legal documents needed by start-ups but used conjunctively, they provide a good basic legal framework for early-stage start-ups.
CONCLUSION
On May 27, 2022, a legal complaint was filed by Liz O’Sullivan, the CEO of Algorithmic tech company, Parity, in a Delaware court against its founder, Rumman Chowdhury, along with Parity’s investment firm Propell Group; Propell Group’s founder and chairman Anders Lier; Parity’s CTO Jiahao Chen; and director of Data Science Michael McKenna. In the complaint, she alleges that the defendants used “strong-arm and intimidation tactics” to “seize control of the company and its assets,” and claimed the actions they took to remove her from her position as CEO were “improper and void.”
Among other things, a primary point of contention in the dispute is who was on the company’s board and when, and how many controlling shares they own.
Circumstances like the one described above may be unavoidable but they are definitely mitigated by the presence of legal agreements, duly entered into by founders during the beginning stages of their start-up.
Oftentimes, legal advisory services are seen as unnecessary by start-up founders at the beginning of the companies due to a variety of reasons such as cost and the lack of time to find a good lawyer. However, founders are advised to engage the services of a good lawyer for their legal needs.
Mr. Oyetola Muyiwa Atoyebi, SAN is the Managing Partner of O. M. Atoyebi, S.A.N & Partners (OMAPLEX Law Firm) where he doubles as the Team Lead of the Firm’s Emerging Areas of Law Practice.
Mr. Atoyebi has expertise in Corporate and Commercial Law and this has seen him advise and represent his vast clientele in a myriad of high level transactions. He holds the honour of being the youngest lawyer in Nigeria’s history to be conferred with the rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Anon. Nigeria’s Tech Sector Could Benefit from More Managed Migration. [online] Center for Global Development. 2021. Available at: <https://www.cgdev.org/blog/nigerias-tech-sector-could-benefit-more-managed-migration> [Accessed June 2022]
Supra
Anon. Africa: number of start-ups by country. [online] Statista. Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/1290679/number-of-startups-in-africa-by-country> 2022 [Accessed June 2022]
Section 21, CAMA 2020.
Anon. How to Create a Founders Agreement. [online] www.startups.com. Available at: <https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/startup-founders-agreement> [Accessed June 2022]
Supra
Anon. YC Safe Financing Documents. [online] Y Combinator. 2022. Available at: <https://www.ycombinator.com/documents> [Accessed June 2022].
Anon. nondisclosure agreement. [online] LII / Legal Information Institute. Available at: <https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/nondisclosure_agreement>. n.d. [Accessed June 2022]
Supra
“Chen, J. Shareholders’ Agreement Definition. [online] Investopedia. Available at: <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholdersagreement.asp>. n.d. [Accessed June 2022]
Kaye, K, A start-up’s dispute with Twitter’s AI ethics head ‘could get ugly’. [online] Protocol. Available at: <https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/ai-ethics-parity-rumman-chowdhury> 2022. [Accessed June 2022].
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