The Nigerian Bar Association has retained e-voting for its July 2020 election. Voting will begin from 00:00am on July 24 and end at 23:59pm on July 25, 2020. It stated this in a preliminary notice by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA). The statement signed by Mr. Tawo Tawo (SAN) and Mrs. Cordelia Eke, ECNBA chairman and secretary respectively, said the notice was pursuant to Article 8 (1)-(4) of the Constitution and paragraph 1.5 of the second schedule of the NBA constitution 2015.
“Election into national offices of the Nigerian Bar Association by its members shall be conducted by E-Voting commencing from 00:00 hours on the 24th day of July 2020 to end at 23:59 hours on the 25th day of July 2020,” the notice said. It said the offices for which members or candidates will be eligible to contest on the basis of rotation among the three (3) zones prescribed by paragraph 1.2(b) of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association 2015 (as amended) and their qualifications are as appearing here under:
Offices, qualification and zones are as follows: President: not less than 15 years post-enrolment and not less than two years in NEC is zoned to the West; 1st Vice President , same as above zoned to the West; 2nd Vice President qualifications as above is zoned to the North; 3rd Vice President same as above is zoned to the East.
General Secretary: Not less than 10 years post-enrolment and not less than two years in NEC is zoned to the East; Assistant Secretary not less than eight years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the branch executive committee as at the date of the nomination not zoned; Treasurer not less than 10 years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the NEC as at the date of nomination. The candidate must in addition to his/her law qualification be a person with basic understanding and appreciation of finance and accounting is not Zoned
Welfare Secretary: Must not be less than 10 years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the NEC as at the date of nomination is not zoned; Financial Secretary not less than 10 years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the NEC as at the date of nomination. The candidate must in addition to his/her law qualification be a person with basic understanding and appreciation of finance and accounting is not zoned
The post of Publicity Secretary is for a lawyer not less than 10 years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the NEC as at the date of nomination. It is also not zoned; The conditions are similar for the Assistant Publicity Secretary. He or she must not be less than five years post-enrolment and not less than two years at the branch executive committee as at the date of nomination. It is not zoned. The list of states that make up the respective zones are set out in paragraphs 1.2(e)(i), (ii) and (iii) of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association 2015 (as amended) as follows:-
Northern Zone – Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and FCT- Abuja.
“Eastern Zone – Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers states
“Western Zone – Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states
A candidate for any elective national office shall be nominated or proposed in writing by a member and seconded by another member, both of whom shall be qualified like the candidate in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution for the equivalent office and in good standing with their Bar Practising fees (BPF) and all other Branch dues and levies.
Nomination Forms shall be available for collection at the NBA National Secretariat and Online from the NBA website as from 8:00 hours on Monday, the 11th day of May, 2020. Submission of completed nomination forms and accompanying documents shall close at 16:.00 hours on Thursday, May 29, 2020.
Source: The Nation – https://thenationonlineng.net/nba-retains-e-voting-for-2020-election/