- “Under your watch we have failed as leaders and the focal voice of the voiceless!”
The Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Clement Chukwuemeka has accused the NBA President, Mr. Yakubu C. Maikyau of acting as the Sole Administrator and Chief Executive President of NBA.
Accusing the Bar President of running an “autocratic style of leadership,” Chukwuemeka told Maikyau to relinquish his position or suspend all National Officers and continue as an overlord “since you cannot recognize our presence in your decisions.”
The 2nd Vice President in a memo to the NBA headman dated 17th May, 2024, unfurled a long list of misdeeds by Maikyau and and function as “sole administrator and chief Executive President of NBA” or resign. hat this “may be bequeathed in worse form to our successors with a hollow and divided NBA at this rate.”
In the memo titled “NOTICE OF CONTINUED BREACH OF NBA CONSTITUTION, URGENT NEED TO RETRACE STEPS AND/OR RESIGN”, copied to NBA Trustees, National Executive Council (NEC) members, NBA AGM, and National Officers among others, Chukwuemeka described Maikyau as “an oppressor and demoralizer,” adding that upon resignation, Maikyau should hand-over to the First Vice President “to pilot the affairs of the Bar more proactively for the remaining days of our tenure.”
“As the Second Vice President, I have painstakingly cogitated about the happenings and, I have come to the conclusion to request from you to openly jettison other National officers through your usual resolution and take over the management of the Association alone as a sole administrator and chief Executive President of NBA, since you cannot recognize our presence in your decisions, in the event you renege from suspending the entire National officers, I hereby demand that you quietly tender your resignation to pave way for the 1st Vice President to pilot the affairs of the Bar more proactively for the remaining days of our tenure as you have failed in all fours as a leader that supposed to accord deserving respect to your fellow National officers rather has proven to be an oppressor and demoralizer. The choice is yours to take.”
Chukwuemeka recounted occasions including the NBA Annual General Meeting (AGM) where he expressed concern that Maikyau had “hijacked/paralysed” his office as Second Vice President and “deliberately took and handed over my responsibilities to your appointed aides on branch affairs thereby breaching section 9(5)(c) (ii)(iii) of NBA constitution as amended which explicitly.”
Citing several alleged breaches of the NBA Constitution, the Second Vice President stated that Maikyau had sidelined the National Officers and continued to run the association as “THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT OF NBA” and on the basis of “lawlessness.” He alleged that unlike past NBA Presidents, branches were created and caretaker committees appointed “without any regard nor recourse to the Vice Presidents in charge of same regions.”
Likening the the NBA President and Germany’s disgraced Adolf Hitler, Chukwuemeka wrote: “Adolf Hitler was not authoritarian and fascist when he rose to power; he was a normal person and activist, his autocratic style manifested when he could not take advice from any one. Outside NBA you are a jolly good fellow, but since you assumed this position as the President of NBA, you have muscled your way around it through the Executive tendencies’ you have ascribed the name and functions of that office. It will be safe herein to refer you as THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT OF NBA going forward.”
Touching on Maikyau’s qualification to be NBA President, he said, “there were numerous Bar men that were far more qualified than you, but the then ECNBA refused to look at the direction of the constitutional provision of mandatory NEC membership attendance or micro zoning, and hence, paved way for you to pilot the affairs of this noble association.”
Chukwuemeka pointed out that NEC meetings have “become a mirage ranging from consistent inconclusiveness of Exco meeting and frequently flouting the compulsory monthly meetings with impunity hence violating the tenets of Section 9(6) of the NBA constitution 2015 as amended in 2021.”
According to the aggrieved Bar leader, Maikyau’s “malnourished policies,” has diminished his standing adding that the goodwill he “hitherto enjoyed has long evaporated and your self-doubting attributes now causes you to feel so insecure and would rather not have other National Officer especially the Vice Presidents to be seen or heard.” He also alleged that the NBA President had sidelined other National Officers and ran the association “with your Aids (sic) and your preferred National officers.”
He accused Maikyau of allegedly polarizing the Bar and turning a blind eye to the welfare of lawyers, saying that this has turned young lawyers into “Keke NAPEP” (tricycle) drivers and bouncers. His words: “I learnt that various established firms approached you and were willing to take responsibility of paying the young lawyers the stipulated allowances, giving room to accommodating so many young lawyers as possible. Sir, why haven’t these IGBA BOI programme taken off, and lawyers drawing from the access to finance Scheme enabled?”
He also fingered the Bar President for “hobnobbing with government” and stated that “under your watch we have failed as leaders and the focal voice of the voiceless!”
On the controversial dissolution of the Executive Committee of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), he wrote: “The only Section empowered by the constitution (SPIDEL), which helps in this regard and to our overall benefit, despite our intervention before the NEC meeting at Jos to allow a sleeping dog to lie peacefully, you obstinately went ahead to carry out such an unsupported mission without any Exco support except yourself and suspended the leadership of SPIDEL through NEC, in clear and utter disregard to the National Officers: this is grievous and unpardonable as you have only succeeded in making a mockery of the NBA, the NEC is not to be blamed because they (sic) assemblage of our colleagues composed as NEC sees you as the voice of the National officers.”
According to the Chukwuemeka, “the entire Bar sees us as the worst tenure of the NBA to ever existed… Lawyers are murdered, kidnapped and humiliated yet no concrete stand by the Association is seen other than long and belated letter writing skills showcased on each occasion.”
The NBA President has not responded to the letter. Click here to read the full text of the letter.
MEMO-TO-THE-PRESIDENT-OF-NBA-2022-2024-
