New NBA gains more currency as over 5,000 lawyers sign up

Co-convener of the New Nigerian Bar Association (NNBA), Abdulbasit Suleiman, has affirmed that more than 5,000 lawyers have registered to join the newly-formed bar association, the New NBA, Daily Times reports.

The NNBA was formed in the wake of the dispute that trailed the dis-invitation of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, after a group of lawyers had signed a petition seeking for the removal Mr. el-Rufai as a speaker at the just concluded annual general conference of the NBA.

In a chat with Premium Times on Monday, Suleiman denied that the dis-invitation of the governor is the primary motivation for the formation of the newly-formed bar association.

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He said: “We, the conveners of the new NBA, are not fans of el-Rufai.”

“We all have our reservations on el-Rufai’s government. But since you have invited this man, let’s hear from him- for him to answer our questions before we take any action against him.

“Some people wrote a petition against him without giving him a fair hearing. This is against our motto, which is to uphold the rule of law. We did not do that. El-Rufai was not given that opportunity.”

Suleiman alleged one of the reasons for creating the new bar association is that the NBA is being monopolised by a “cabal” who do not have the best interest of the larger population of lawyers at heart.

“Reasons for forming the new NBA are many but the first is that the NBA is being hijacked by some few cabals,” he said.

“NBA activity is just circulating between some few people. We have more than 200,000 registered members in Nigeria but I can tell you authoritatively that less than 100 people are benefiting from the NBA.

“Most of us are not benefiting from the NBA. We are paying our dues, we follow all the rules and regulations but our benefits and interests are not being protected.”

Suleiman also held that the intention of the group is not to create division but to create a competition for the NBA.

“We are not dividing the bar. We are trying to form an association to create a competition for the NBA,” he said.

“If we have two or more, there will be competing. If we look at developed countries, they have more than one lawyers’ associations. Why must we restrict ourselves to one.”

“As I’m talking to you now, we are still counting. We have more than 5,000 members that have registered with us and we are still counting.

“Starting from tomorrow, some state governments will be receiving our letters, notifying them of the formation.”

He also maintained that the group is ready to initiate litigation against any “bigwigs” in the profession looking to oppose the formation of the new NBA.