NBA 3rd Vice President Responds to NBA President’s Allegations

1.0  PROTOCOLS

• The Board of Trustees
• The Body of Benchers
• President
• Distinguished National Officers
• Past Presidents
• The Body of Benchers
• The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Chairman General Council of the Bar
• Past 1st, 2nd and 3rd Vice Presidents
• Past General Secretaries
• Past National Officers
• Privileged NEC Members
• The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria
• Distinguished and revered Senior Counsels of the Bar
• Distinguished section Chairmen
• Distinguished Branch Chairmen
• Distinguished and respected learned colleagues.
• Gentlemen/Women of the Press
• Nigerians and the World at Large

I salute you all!

With great humility and utmost respect, I write this as a rejoinder to the false and exaggerated claims and allegations levelled against the 3rd Vice President and other National officers of the Nigerian Bar Association. This rejoinder is sequel to the understanding that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was not elected as a Sole Administrator but that he was elected with OTHER OFFICERS to jointly carry out the administrative work and manage the affairs of the NBA.

However and contrary to this understanding, he has right from the day of Inauguration treated National Officers with disdain and worked alone with his personally engaged aides who carry out the functions and roles of Executive National Officers till date. This considered aberration, contrary to the provisions of the NBA Constitution is a wholesome  infringement and/or usurpation of the powers of the office of the 3rd Vice President and other National Officers.

The President’s resort to grandstanding in his defence to the allegations of running the affairs of the Association without the executive committee and his violation of our fundamental and constitutional right to fair hearing is downright insulting and slanderous.

While he deliberately strives to play on the emotions of members, portraying himself as a prudent and a self righteous president, I am compelled to put the record straight and to show the extent our most exalted and respected office has descended.

1.0 The President did not deny the allegation of sidelining the 3rd Vice President, nor deny the use of his aides to carry out the duties and function of the Executive Officers; rather he resorted to grandstanding and went on a wild goose chase to cover his actions.

In a democratic organisation, such an act of stripping elected Executive Officers of their mandate and transferring the same to his aides is an affront to the NBA as a body. He once said “rather than befriend the aides you all are there carrying your selves as National Officers – these are the people that decide your fate” and truly they decide the Executive Officers to add to Committees and boards and who goes on foreign trips and courtesy visits and even conferences and assignments with the President. While the Executive officers just see the publication on social media like every other person.What an aberration! None of the Officers who complained called the President a thief, but he started his defence by saying he is not a thief and went on a narcissistic smear campaign against the complainants, particularly the 3rd Vice President. This calls for serious concern!

1.1 On Mr. President’s allegation that the 3rd Vice President and others stayed in the hotel for 2 weeks. The 3rd Vice President denies the same and puts him to the strictest proof. I remember vividly that this was the period of the sudden assignment to coordinate the Western Region after 6 months in office as against the Eastern region where I was coordinating as assigned by the National Executive Committee. When I discovered I was the only vice president assigned to coordinate the branches under my original region, I had to make inquiries. On confirming that the assignment I thought he made in error stands, not without reminding me that Mr President can do and undo as he wished and I have no say whatsoever,  I immediately called up the branches under the newly assigned region and we scheduled a familiarisation tour. Approval to go for the Familiarisation Tour was discussed with him as well. I was out of the NBA Hotel for several days. However, I was still on official duty paying my personal money in the hotel.

1.2 On his allegation of not informing him before the tour of the Branches, the same is hereby denied and puts him to the strictest proof.

1.3 On section 9(5) (d) (ii) of the NBA Constitution 2021 (As Amended) herein reproduced:

The third Vice President shall be responsible for the Coordination of the activities of the group of branches as may be assigned to her by the National Executive Council or the National Executive Committee or the President and shall pay periodic visits as necessary and or required to the Branches so assigned to him/her and shall make periodic reports to the National Executive Council  or the National Executive Committee on such visits.

The above notwithstanding, Mr. President in his wisdom said:

” I will not approve any such Familiarisation tour, there is no such thing as familiarisation tour in the constitution. I will only send you when there is crisis. The Constitution says only when necessary- meaning only when there is crisis. So if you go I will not pay for your expenses except when I send you. However you are free to go at your own expense”

I quoted the provision to him, tried to interpret and convince him that the periodic visits to Branches under my region is a mandatory provision of the Constitution and that the word ‘as necessary’ or ‘as required’ is my prerogative and that having a rapport with the branches will go a long way in impacting the members. Having such rapport will also help to nip any brewing crisis in the bud. I pleaded and pleaded and of course in his characteristic manner of shutting one out, he shut me out. Only to discover that the President had been using his aides to carry out the Job of the 3rd Vice President

Severally, I have been told:

“Do you think it is easy to be NBA President? Go and contest” This became his slogan and anthem such that I had to tell him: ” I take the hint, I will contest.”

The third Vice President is one that does not believe in giving excuses for failure, this is my life principle, such that despite being owed  about two million naira for flight tickets and hotel accomodation for trips to Abuja on official duties called up by Mr. President for several months from inception in September 2022 till February 2023, I still embarked on the familiarisation tours with my personal funds. The 4 days tour to Ondo, Ekiti and Osun States was alleged by Mr. President at the National Executive Council meeting in Birnin Kebbi as

” One person that calls herself the 3rd Vice President went to lodge in the Hotel for 2 weeks in the name of familiarisation tour and expects me to pay with your practising fees that you suffered to pay. I will not.”

Of course NEC Members moved a motion led by some SANs and  his Constitutional Amendment Committee Chairman to the effect that the Vice Presidents should not be funded in carrying out their constitutional duties. With a vote of Confidence on Mr. President by the Chairman of Ughelli which has been the peculiar practice from the very first NEC by Mr. President’s allies.

On this, we saw the urgent need to stop the NBA President from being given such enormous and absolutely corrupt powers and or authority to decide and or constitute NEC membership if the NBA Must remain relevant in the scheme of things in Nigeria because according to Lord Baron Acton:

“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

I have seen this play out in this administration.

Some highly degrading comments were made on my person such that I wept for 2 nights. I wept because the Bar has been cowed and relegated to such a level that none apart from Jonathan Taidi  Esq. The former General Secretary of the NBA was courageous enough to speak at NEC against this oppression, even though he was shut out. I was not given the opportunity to reply to his allegations just as in this case at the AGC on the 31st of August, 2023 necessitating this rejoinder as the mighty and tallest president refused to allow us to reply to his false allegations. ‘ Nemo judex in causa sua’

Which is a cardinal rule of natural justice and constitutional justice that no one should be a judge in his own case. Y. C Maikyau was the accuser and the Judge. He ought to have recused himself in the circumstance but blatantly denied us the right to reply. And the AGM tolerated this flagrant violation. This is still so unbelievable.

1.4 On his allegation of N2,200,000 as expenses claimed for familiarisation tour: same is hereby denied and puts him to the strictest proof as the expenses for the 4 days trip to Ekiti, Ondo and Osun was not N2, 200,000 not even half of the amount he alleged.

Due to the demeaning comments he made on my person and his vow never to pay for the trip, I did not send in any further expenses on subsequent visits in the midst of the High cost of Petrol and transportation which had cost me hundreds of thousands. Rather, I requested for a Driver and Car for my official duties, to this, he said the NBA has no funds but the NBA has funds for foreign trips. Who is deceiving the Bar?

1.5 The genesis of my problem was in September 2022 at the National Officers Retreat, for daring to speak against the humiliation of National Officers at the Retreat. I was shocked to realise that Mr. President will not take any contrary opinion and threatened to deal with me and render me useless in the NBA despite interventions from other executive members who were present.

Due to this incident, he kept saying there can not be two presidents in  the NBA at the same time. I have never presented myself as president of the Nigerian Bar Association in any fora before or during this administration and I don’t understand why the President is feeling threatened.This is the basis of all that has been happening. It has nothing to do with money, nobody has accused him of stealing; rather, all I’m asking is to be part of the deliberations and allow me to function in my office constitutionally.

I still cannot believe a president of the NBA will have a complex and be this petty and vindictive such that he promised to deal with me and render me useless in the NBA he cannot have 2 Presidents. He wants me to stop making publications as president of AWLA, step down as AWLA President et al.

Despite having several meetings in camera over this for his understanding and cooperation as his predecessors have partnered with AWLA and supported AWLA, my story and passion for AWLA, reducing making publications as President of AWLA, and absenting myself at AWLA events, I am still being sidelined and punished for my contributions to humanity to end indignity to women and children by the President of NBA with the goal to advance rule of law. Rather than support this great initiative and benefit from my wealth of experience, he decided to sideline and subdue me.

To this end, he has lived up to his promise:

1. He has refused to appoint me to any Committee, Council or board. Not even the Human Rights Committee nor the Human Rights Institute Council nor the Pro Bono Centre Council which is my core area of practice and relevant Committees and Councils to my Office as Vice President of NBA. Despite the National Executive Committee resolution that Every National Officer should be a member of Committees relevant to their Office.
2. I only get to know about the constitution of boards  councils and committees at NEC or on social media
3. Even to Represent the NBA at Events within my region, he would rather fly the 1st Vice President or the General Secretary to attend such Occasions within my region, worse case at women’s events. Who then is wasting Lawyers Practising fees?
4. So bad that the NBA Partnership with the Multinational Organizations, he sends his aides to represent the NBA.
5. He refused to add the 3rd Vice President to the Conference Planning Committee, so no representation whatsoever in the AGC. I had not the slightest clue as to what the Plans were nor opportuned to chip in despite making myself available at no cost to the NBA.
6. He has till date after 12 calendar months in office never given me any official assignment as 3rd Vice President to represent the NBA thus he never had any memo to fly on me, thus his resort to black mail
7. He took offices built purposefully for the Vice Presidents with separate toilets and  kitchen and handed same over to his aids and gave us another office where we share toilets with visitors and cleaners
8. The black Hyundai Car attached to me as the only Vice President coming from out of Jurisdiction was yanked off. I am left to join the Bus and of course the car is now used by all. Despite having a fleet of cars, Jeeps etc parked in the NBA garage and  inspite of reporting  the disappointment of the Branches I visited when they didn’t see their Vice President in Official NBA Vehicle Mr. President still said the NBA cannot afford one. I have been thoroughly sidelined.

This is the Vice President the BAR elected, that Y.C Maikyau has decided in his wisdom to relegate.

1.6 I recall the humiliating experience at the AGC opening ceremony, where Mr. President ensured I was not allowed to sit on the seat reserved for National Officers, as he kept asking me to get up despite having other vacant seats until he ensured I had no seat. When my family didn’t see me at the event, they all panicked and were all calling to find out if I was okay. Same at the point of welcoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the event, he ensured the 3rd Vice President and the General Secretary were sent back. So Mr. Y. C Maikyau singularly welcomed the President of the FRN to the AGC.

He carried out several courtesy visits without the 3rd Vice President.

At the AGC Debarred Party, a security man hit me on the chest at the entrance for no reason whatsoever. If we were introduced to the vendor’s and security that would not have happened. I could barely get out of bed as I woke up in excruciating pain the next day and managed to make it to the AGM. These false allegations are beginning to make me think that the sudden unprovoked attack on me  by the security was a premeditated attack to stop me from attending the AGM as he had earlier instructed the GS to expunge my report from the AGM bundle, the reason I had to send same out to the bloggers at 1pm on AGM day.

1.7 On the allegation of sharing Money donated by an anonymous donor, the news of the money came to us at our National Executive Committee Meeting in June. We were told the bag of money was in dollars. The equivalent in naira, he claimed, was N50,000 000 (Fifty million naira). At no time was the amount in dollars mentioned, nor the bag of money shown to us nor the exchange rate revealed to us at the Exco meeting that was given to him as  donation towards NEC in Birnin Kebbi in March 2023. We only got to know 3 months after the cash donation.

1.8 RESORT TO CHEAP BLACKMAIL

It is quite disheartening to imagine that the NBA President could resort to cheap blackmail.

Does the 3rd Vice President have direct access to NBA Funds?

Has she ever stayed in NBA covered Hotel in Abuja without the President’s approval?

Has she ever stayed in NBA covered Hotel for straight two weeks?

Has she ever stayed in NBA covered Hotel alone without other National Officers?

Has she ever applied nor received any approval for funds to execute any project for the NBA?

I challenge the NBA President to come with answers and proof for members of the Bar to see.

1.9 On the allegation of spending huge amounts on hotels for National Officers,

As the Vice President Coordinating the Western Region I personally met Mr. President on the need to renovate the NBA House in Lagos which would yield hundreds of millions for the NBA yearly

and the need to rent a property to serve as National Officers Apartment complex or in the alternative a Rent to Own Apartment for National Officers accommodation to save the NBA Funds wasted on Hotel accommodation. On the suggestion again, at the last National Executive Committee meeting on August 15, 2023, by the 3rd Vice President, which necessitated my being asked by Mr. President to visit the NBA House  just last month ( August) in Lagos to inspect the same to know the extent of repairs to be carried out.

 I suggested the need to immediately rent apartments for National Officers and or rent to own apartments in September 2022 to save the NBA from payments that yield no returns for the Association. I also suggested the need to apply to the FCT minister for allocation for a large expanse of land for NBA Estate and Conference City. This has been my suggestion and stance from inception. Every year the NBA spends billions of naira on the NBA AGM and after the 7 days  the billions are pulled down.

However, it will interest you to know that the President keeps his favoured ass-licking Officers in the Hotels for extra days and weeks. Thus their memos are treated specially by Mr. President. So who exactly is squandering NBA Funds? As of today, I am still owed for my expenses on official duties.

1.10 On allegation of feeding the National Officers

The NBA does not pay for my feeding as claimed. It’s so bad that we come in on a Monday and leave on a Thursday and all he approves  is 2 days instead of four days  which may not even be paid at all. Meanwhile the per diem allowance cannot take care of feeding per meal in the Hotel. If you have to go outside the Hotel to eat, the return transport is about N6000

1.11 On the allegation of N50,000,000 expenses on National Officers in one year via the audit report at his instance. I only heard of the audit report and the total amount of fifty million naira. I never saw the report despite demanding the same and the breakdown of the expenses by each National Officer. It will interest members of the Bar to know that some favoured National officers go on secret foreign trips and National assignments fully paid for and some are favoured to stay longer in the Hotels as long as three to four weeks. Their memos are sent in separately and approved separately. So to give a blanket report will be unfair to those who do not benefit from such special favours but rather owed millions and at the same time be portrayed as wasting NBA funds. This is the height of deception.

1.12 On the allegation of the Memo for the trip to France for IBA in the sum of  N78,000,000

This is indeed a ready made defence as common sense will show that if in previous trips, it had always been a secret affair, how come there is a memo prepared to take all National Officers all of a sudden and at the same time an approval was already done for  the President’s IBA appointed statutory officers to go at the sum of N16,000,000 Naira for just 2 persons.

Of what benefit is IBA and CLA attendance than catering for NBA branches in Nigeria? Were reimbursement for visits to 9 branches with 3 colleagues in the Vice President’s entourage for 4 days a waste of NBA funds that must not be approved???

Has the attendance of IBA and Commonwealth Lawyers Association Conferences impacted the attendees for better leadership in any way with these grandstanding  and narcissistic smear campaigns???

Should the Vice President have travelled alone with a driver for four days in strange areas when I have colleagues from different branches of the NBA who were conversant with those areas and not 5 of my staff members as falsely alleged by YC? It was a road trip and the vehicle took us at no extra cost. So how has this wasted the funds of the NBA that has not been paid nor intended to be paid since February? Nor the earlier expenses? And the latter expenses of visits to 7 other Branches?

And of what benefit is the one day State of the Nation Event on January 30, 2023 at N50,000,000 of greater benefit to the Bar than visit to the Branches to carry them along in the scheme of things in the NBA and or to support the small remote branches???

Just recently, he sponsored about 8 people secretly to India with over N20,000,000. This is the wisdom of the prudent Mr. Y.C Maikyau in protecting the funds of the NBA. In his wisdom, he still approved for two officers who were part of the earlier foreign trips to go to France for IBA with N16,000,000 and termed them IBA Statutory officers. This is indeed a sure way of protecting the NBA Funds.

Since ‘Familiarisation tour’ is not written in NBA CONSTITUTION, where is ‘IBA Statutory Officers’ or ‘CLA Statutory Officers’ written in the NBA Constitution?

1.13 CALL FOR INTERVENTIONS

I hereby humbly call on the revered Board of Trustees of the NBA, the Body of Benchers, the Past Presidents, the Past Vice Presidents,  Past General Secretaries and Branch Chairmen to wade into this and call for;

1. A reconvening of the abruptly ended AGM by the President dictatorially to shut us up. The AGM needs to be reconvened to stop the Bar from imploding

2. An independent audit of the accounts of the NBA

3. Investigations into the false allegations of Y.C Maikyau SAN against the 3rd Vice President.

I thank you all once again for the opportunity to serve and for your understanding. I am encouraged by the fact that your legal minds cannot be deceived by this Narcissistic smear campaign. The 3rd Vice President only asked that Mr. President allow her to carry out her constitutional duties because she had been sidelined. She did Not call Mr. President a thief. She ran to elders of the Bar severally for intervention, tried severally to resolve the same in camera, at the National Executive Committee Meeting, all to no avail. Rather I was advised not to speak, that speaking against the President is suicidal. I just could not believe this. How then can the NBA save Nigerians from oppression, if the NBA President can oppress the Vice President and no one can speak? This is not Mandy Asagba, I refuse to be cowed. I was voted into office, I owe my colleagues that duty.  It got to the level where he used divide and rule using Junior National officers against senior officers. No hierarchy anymore. Only the President is revered, thus favours them with appointment to Committees, Boards, foreign trips and extra National Assignments.

I remain eternally grateful to you all for this opportunity. If given another opportunity to serve, I shall serve you to the best of my ability without fear or favour. My allegiance will continue to be to the NBA Constitution, to contribute my quota to the advancement of the rule of law and the welfare of lawyers with the goal to LEAVE NO BRANCH BEHIND and impact the people of Nigeria even to the remotest part (the nook and crannies of Nigeria). Thus I frown at the idea of scrapping small branches rather than empowering them to survive and grow and creating more branches. The more branches we have the greater the reach thus bringing justice closer to the people.

Long live the NBA!!!

Amanda Demechi-Asagba FICMC, ACILR

3rd Vice President

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION (NBA)

September 3, 2023

C.C

The Board of Trustees

The Body of Benchers

The President

The National Officers

The Past Presidents

The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Chairman General Council of the Bar

The Past 1st, 2nd and 3rd Vice Presidents

The Past General Secretaries

The Past National Officers

NEC Members

The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria

Senior Counsels of the Bar

The  section Chairmen

The Branch Chairmen

Learned colleagues.

Gentlemen/Women of the Press