The Nigerian Bar Association is an association governed by law, specifically by its Constitution as registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act. It is a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal, and the capacity to sue and be sued in its corporate name. This corporate existence and autonomy were deliberately conferred by the law, not granted as a favour by any government official.
We therefore cannot and must not accept any attempt, however subtle, to undermine the Constitution of the NBA or to erode the powers vested in its organs. The NBA Constitution is the grundnorm of the Association. Any action that seeks to bypass, override, or interfere with its provisions is an assault on the rule of law which we, as lawyers, are sworn to defend.
Specifically, the Attorney General of the Federation has no power under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, CAMA, or the NBA Constitution to interfere with the corporate existence, administration, or internal affairs of the NBA. The AGF is the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, not the Chief Executive Officer of the Bar. His office exists to uphold the law, not to dictate to independent professional bodies how they should organize themselves. There is no constitutional, statutory, or legal basis for such interference. Indeed, there is no reason whatsoever to contemplate it.
To allow this to stand will set a dangerous precedent. It will mean, in effect, that the continued existence of the NBA and every other voluntary association in Nigeria is at the pleasure and whim of the government of the day. That is the definition of executive overreach and it is antithetical to Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom of association.
Let it be clear: Under the NBA Constitution, the National Executive Committee, NEC, is the highest decision-making body of the Association between Annual General Conferences. NEC, not the AGF, determines policy, discipline, and the management of the Association’s affairs. Any attempt to substitute the authority of NEC with the directive of any government official, including the AGF, is unconstitutional, null, and void.
The NBA has survived for years because it has jealously guarded its independence. We must not, in our time, be the generation that surrenders that independence. The Bar must speak with one voice: The NBA Constitution is supreme within the Association, and NEC remains its highest decision-making authority.
Haruna Favour, Esq.
