The Port Harcourt branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been thrown into crisis following the branch’s election scheduled to hold yesterday.
Most members of the branch stormed the NBA House in Port Harcourt and barricaded its entrance in protest, insisting that the scheduled election must be cancelled as they alleged manipulation of the voters’ list.
In the protest, aggrieved members complained that they were not satisfied with the process compelling heavy deployment of security around the building.
Armed security personnel from the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police were seen monitoring the development.
One of the candidates for the position of Social Secretary, Chilezie Oluolu, alleged that the electoral committee failed to comply with the by-law of the branch by refusing to publish the register ahead of the election.
The candidate said: “To shock everybody, yesterday night, around 10:45pm to 11pm, they published a final voters list. Meanwhile we have never had any conversation as to the modalities for the election.
“The bye-law says if you’re publishing a final voters’ list, you must give 14 days before the election within which you would have spoken to members giving them modalities. They would bring their agents to do the final briefing before we would get ready for election.
“Yet he published it and said elections must hold this morning. And we are saying that that is not what it should be. We are not satisfied.”
The protesters, who appeared in their corporate outfits were seen shouting and chanting: “cancel the election now”.
A female lawyer, who spoke in confidence, said three blocs, the Integrity Group, the Progressive Group and the Proactive Group, were dragging the leadership of the NBA, Port Harcourt.
She said the integrity group, whose candidate is John Ogbokiri from Rivers State, had earlier obtained a court order stopping the electoral committee nominated by the past leadership from conducting the election.
“They accused the electoral committee of including unqualified persons as voters to manipulate and rig the process. They went to court and obtained an order stopping the election”, she said.
She added that the National NBA was compelled to send a three-man caretaker committee to conduct the election.
“The committee chose Friday as the date for the election. But at the venue of the poll, the integrity group and the progressive group staged a protest and a walkout saying they were not satisfied with the process because the list of voters was published a night before the election against the NBA bye-law”.
She added: “Though those of us at the Proactive Group wanted the election to go on, it was later postponed. The caretaker Committee promised to meet with the aggrieved parties and choose another date for the election”.
Also, a former Chairman of the NBA, Port Harcourt Branch, Prince Nyekwere confirmed the development saying “they have not given us a new date.”