NBA national executive committee suspends secretary general, Joyce Oduah

The National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association has released a statement announcing the suspension of National General Secretary Joyce Oduah.

The announcement was made with immediate effect, pending the NBA’s National Executive Council’s Pre-Conference meeting on Sunday, August 21, 2022.

This latest twist in the ensuing crisis rocking the NBA national body comes four days ahead of the start of the NBA’s Annual General Conference, slated to hold in Lagos from August 19 to 26, 2022.

The Conference also marks the end of the two-year tenure of the President, Olumide Akpata, to give way to the newly elected administration, led by Yakubu Maikyau, SAN.

In an email to members on Monday, informing them of the resolution of the Executive Committee to suspend Ms. Oduah as General Secretary and signed by nine of its 11 members, the committee stated that the move is based on “weighty allegations against the General Secretary, Mrs Joyce Oduah in particular, her acts of alleged disobedience to the President, the National Executive Council of the Association (NBA-NEC) and the National Executive Committee.”

The Executive Committee stated that “At the end of the deliberations, the National Executive Committee by a unanimous decision, resolved to refer the General Secretary, Mrs Joyce Oduah to NBA-NEC for disciplinary action under the provisions of section 20(1) of the NBA Constitution 2015 (as amended in 2021) and to recommend her removal from office for gross misconduct.”

The body also stated that the Assistant General Secretary, Uchenna Nwadialo shall immediately act as the General Secretary pending the Pre-Conference meeting of the NBA-NEC scheduled to hold on Sunday 21st August 2022.