DON’T BE DISENFRANCHISED – DON’T LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE
Dear Colleagues,
Happy new month.
On Saturday, 30th of May, 2020, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) issued a statement titled “NBA National Elections 2020 – Publication of Interim/Provisional Voters Register” in which it raised some concerns as to the response by Branches to the request for submission of details of eligible members of the Branches.
Unfortunately, according to the ECNBA, only 36 Branches had, as at the time the statement was issued, complied with the directives of the ECNBA by providing the correct format of members’ list and proof of payment of Branch Dues on or before the 31st of March, 2020.
The ECNBA also published an Interim/Provisional List of Eligible Voters and urged members to confirm that their details were taken correctly. In instances where members’ details are incorrectly taken or omitted, such members are to inform their Branch Chairmen of the error/omission and ensure that the Chairmen forward the corrections to the ECNBA on or before 6th of June, 2020.
In view of this, I urge us all to go through the list and forward all complaints to their respective Branch Chairmen as soon as possible. I further urge us to follow up with our respective Branch leadership to ensure that the details are forwarded to the ECNBA on or before the 6th of June to avoid our being disenfranchised.
For those of us whose Branch details are yet to be submitted to the ECNBA in the appropriate format, I urge us to immediately contact the Branch leaderships to do so immediately.
Remember that all submissions to the ECNBA must be in Microsoft Excel® format and contain the Serial number, name of member, year of call, phone number, email and details of any error.
Finally, I urge us all to visit the NBA Membership portal at nigerianbar.org.ng/membership -portal to verify their details, if you haven’t already done so.
Let’s do better.
Babatunde Ajibade, Ph.D, SAN, FCIArb
