NBA Suspends General Secretary, Oduah For Misconduct

The General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),Joyce Oduah has been suspended over allegations of “gross misconduct.”

The decision was made during an emergency meeting of the association’s National Executive Committee early Monday, Premium Times reports.

According to a copy of the “final resolution” issued at the end of Monday’s meeting, Mrs. Oduah and ten other members of the committee, including NBA President Olumide Akpata, were present.

The meeting was presided over by the NBA’s first vice president, John Aikpokpo Martins, with Akpata voluntarily withdrawing from the role.

With the exception of Akpata and Oduah, the resolution suspending the General Secretary was signed by nine members in attendance.

In a letter dated 9 August and addressed to Akpata, the nine members of the committee who signed the resolution requested the emergency meeting to address recent actions taken by Oduah.

Her recent unilateral withdrawal of notices for the amendment of the association’s constitution was the most serious of the allegations leveled against her.

According to previous notices, the constitution amendment was to be considered at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 19 in Lagos.

Akpata, the NBA president, issued a disclaimer on Friday, reversing the withdrawal of the notices for the constitution amendment.

Following an emergency meeting on Monday, the National Executive Committee passed a resolution suspending Oduah from her position as General Secretary.

The decision was hinged on the need to ensure a hitch-free AGM “and to prevent the General Secretary, Mrs Joyce Oduah from imperilling the Annual General Meeting.”

“…The National Executive Committee has unanimously exercised its emergency powers under section 9(6) (d) of the NBA Constitution 2015 (as amended in 2021) to suspend Mrs Joyce Oduah from office as the General Secretary of the Association with immediate effect pending the Pre-Conference meeting of the NBA-NEC scheduled to hold on Sunday 21st August 2022,” the resolution read in part.

“In her place, the Assistant General Secretary, Uchenna Nwadialo, was asked to “immediately act as the General Secretary pending the Pre-Conference meeting of the NBA-NEC…”

The resolution urged NBA members “to continue their preparations for the forthcoming Annual General Conference.”

The resolution revealed that the NBA leadership deliberated extensively on Oduah’s alleged disobedience to Akpata and the NBA-NEC during the emergency meeting.
A 14 August internal memo from national officers to Akpata detailed several allegations of “gross misconduct” against Oduah.

The memo formed the basis for the NBA’s emergency meeting where Oduah’s transgressions topped the agenda.

Titled “Need for Urgent Action to Forestall a Crisis in the NBA,” the memo accused the suspended General Secretary of being a “clog in the smooth administration of the Association by various acts of dereliction of duty, disobedience to lawful orders, misconducting herself and being involved in acts and behaviours which are likely to, and have indeed brought the Association into disrepute.”