Dele Adesina vows to restore dignity to the Bar

A frontline contender in the race for the Presidency of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dele Adesina, SAN, in this interview speaks on the need for Electoral Offences Tribunal, the 2014 NBA elections, Judicial reforms and a host of other issues.

Q: What are your views on the recent calls for an Electoral Offences Commission to try and adjudicate over electoral offences in the country?

The agitation for establishment of electoral offences Tribunal to punish electoral offenders has been on for some time.  It became more pronounced post 2003 and 2007 elections. While 2003 election was regarded as flawed, many described the 2007 election as a fraud.  The agitation invariably led the former President, Musa Umaru Ya’adua to set up the National Electoral Reform Commission under the highly respected former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice M.L. Uwais (CJN) (rtd).  In this area of our legal jurisprudence, people commit electoral offences with impunity and get away with it.  Even where they are caught, nothing happens.  When people believe they can get away with anything, there is no restraint or restriction.  Like other offences, offenders must not go unpunished. One of the cardinal principles of punishment in Criminal jurisprudence is the principle of deterrence.

The former president in furtherance of the report of Justice Uwais panel forwarded the Electoral Offences Commission bill to the National Assembly. Regrettably, nothing was heard on that bill until recently when the Senate was reported to have proposed further amendment to the 1999 Constitution by transferring the jurisdiction to try electoral offences to the Federal High Court.

 • What is your reaction to this? 

Permit me to say that this is like one of those instances when in my opinion we technically avoid our problems while pretending to be solving them.  Today, the Federal High Court is already over worked.  Apart from Lagos and Abuja, the Federal High Court has only one Court room in many other States.  Besides and more fundamentally,  we are in one breadth agitating for devolution of powers to the States which make up the federating unit while in another breadth we are concentrating more powers at the centre, it is a paradox.

• Why do you think you are the most qualified to lead the Bar at this time?

 I wonder if I am the appropriate person to be asked this question.  But since you have asked, I shall take the liberty to answer you.  I believe and I say this with all sense of humility and responsibility that I am the most qualified to lead the Bar at this time.  With very profound respect to my co-contestants, I am the most enriched in the service of the Bar both at the Branch and at the National level.  I am a past chairman of one of the most active Branches talking about Ikeja Branch.  Out of the other candidates, only one was a former Branch Chairman like me.  I am also a past General Secretary of the Association, no other candidate is.  

• What will you bring this experience to bear if you are elected president of the bar?

 Our Association is governed at two levels, by the President and General Secretary at the National level, and the Chairman and Secretary at the Branch level.  At both levels, I have directly participated in the corporate governance of the Bar unlike other candidates.  I have also headed some of the key committees of the Association.  For instance, I was the Chairman of the Electoral Committee in 2008. I am presently the Chairman of the Rule of Law Action Group as well as the Chairman of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Sub-Committee of the Section on legal practise.

In all these areas and many more, I have left definite tangible and verifiable marks. This is because I give my all in anything am involved in.  Happily, the generality of our members are fully aware of this characteristic. 

 • The welfare of Nigerian Lawyers is a fundamental issue in the development of the bar, how do you intend to improve the welfare of lawyers, both old and young?

I will answer this question by recalling a story.  In 2002, in the course of my campaign to contest for office of the General Secretary of the Bar, I asked a question that “If you are not a member of the NBA, what do you lose”?  I found out that one did not lose anything, then I concluded that there was a problem.  After we were elected, the executive put in place some welfare programmes.  We set up a group insurance policy through one of the leading insurance brokers, the Nigerian Life and Pension Consultants for Nigerian Lawyers.  The policy covered payments for medical expenses and sudden death.  

•  What was the cost of this policy?

It was at no extra charge to lawyers. The Association paid the premium in full.  The executive also put in place a minimum wage standard for the young and junior members of the Bar.  The minimum wage was by far higher than what some private chambers were paying their juniors in the big cities at that time.  Even when we lost two of our colleagues in Onitsha, Anambra State under circumstances the NBA believed to be politically motivated, our executive did not only rise up like a roaring lion to protest the dastardly killings, we mounted a sustained campaign against the government of the day at that time.  We did not stop there, we set up an endowment fund for the children of the deceased colleagues. That was the priority we accorded the welfare of our members at that time.  Regrettably, these welfare policies were not continued for unexplainable reasons. I have referred to these verifiable facts to assure our colleagues that I have done it before and I can do it again. You don’t judge a man or a woman by his or  her promises, you judge a people by their past.

•  We have seen some highlights of your manifesto. How do you intend to achieve all of these?

My program is contained in the document referred to as “Strategic Plan for Strategic Development of NBA”.  It is a nine-point Agenda.  For me all the nine issues are key, beginning with the corporate governance of the NBA itself, to promotion of efficient justice delivery, rule of law and corporate social responsibility of the NBA, the enthronement of high ethical standard, continuing legal education, globalisation of Legal services and anti corruption. 

Can you be a little more specific? 

With regards to the corporate governance of our Association, I intend to pursue a deliberate policy of full democracy, active consultation, openness, transparency and accountability.  I shall institutionalise democracy in the workings of the National executive committee.  For some years now, our Presidents have largely encroached on the powers of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to the extent that majority believe that the NEC has become a mere rubber stamp.  This will change.

I hope to unbound the presidency and work with the elected national officers who in any event shall have unfettered ability to perform their constitutional functions and responsibilities. I will make the Branches the main focus of my development agenda. The Committees, Institutions, Sections and fora of the Association shall be strongly supported to play very active role because there is so much to do within so short a time. 

There shall be effective delegation of powers. One thing everyone knows about me is the fact, that I am a team player. I shall give everyone a sense of belonging. This is how I hope to achieve my agenda.

How do you intend to partner the judiciary in your administration?

The judiciary and the promotion of speedy and efficient justice system is another key item of my agenda. Our implementation strategy will be to mount sustained campaign towards increasing the budgetary allocation to the judiciary, provision of adequate infrastructural facilities and provision of necessary incentives both during service and after retirement. More importantly, we shall embark on strategic campaign against the perception that our judiciary is a corrupt judiciary. Yes a few of our judges may be bad. However, these few cannot take the place of the majority who are good. While taking steps as the Chief Justice of Nigeria is doing to separate the wheat from the chaff, the majority that are good in the system must be encouraged and protected. Perception if not checked can become a reality. It is even more dangerous when that perception attempts to change the reality. The reality is that our judiciary is still one of the best in the continent of Africa.

• What is your plan towards promoting  the rule of law in the country?

We also have on the strategic plan the issue of the rule of law. The Bar in a developing democracy must of necessity be bold and courageous, determined to speak out on issues of national importance with the objective of enthroning due process and Rule of Law. Impunity should have no place where the Rule of Law operates. Under this heading of my agenda, the NBA shall drive a policy against impunity, arbitrariness, high-handedness, mis-governance, abuse of power and all forms of injustice. The NBA shall play a dominant role in the democratic process before and after the 2015 general elections. Under this heading too, we intend to set up structures that will encourage the culture of pro-bono including private driven pro-bono initiative, encourage dispute resolution mechanism, Court monitoring and public interest litigations.

• There seems to be a disconnect between the NBA and majority of its members, how do you intend to tackle this and make the association the pride of its members?

I have heard this complain just like you and I think the complaint is prevalent. Members of the Association have given expression to this in more than one form. For instance, some four or five years ago, there was a serious agitation for the abolition of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. This agitation I believe was a fall out of this complaint. In 2012, some Branches refused to register for the Annual General Conference which was held in Abuja protesting against the high registration fees. The truth is that the disconnect between the leadership and the followership of the Bar is of recent occurrence within the last five  to six  years as a result of what members consider as inappropriate policies.

 • Why do you think this has continued?

It will not be an overstatement if I say that majority of our members today sees NBA as “their NBA”. It should not be so. I shall pursue the policy of inclusion that will give everyone a sense of belonging. Let me say here that life is about knowing what to do and doing it. I am clear-headed as to what to do in this direction. I shall re-construct the Bar. I shall be the bridge between the leadership and the followership. Somebody says if you don’t have a different way of doing it, you have no business getting involved. I shall confront the challenges facing the Bar and I must be frank with you, they can tear the Bar apart if not nothing is done. 

• You are reputed to have served the Bar at its golden years, what experiences are you bringing to reposition the organisation if elected its President next month?

I have been intimately connected with the Bar and the administration of the Bar since 1987 when Alao Aka Bashorun was President. As young as I was at the Bar, I was one of the members of his kitchen cabinet. The same with Sir Clement Akpamgbo (SAN)  In 1991, Mrs. Priscilla Kuye 1992, TJO Okpoko (SAN), OCJ Okocha (SAN),  Wole Olanipekun (SAN) 2002,Chief  Bayo Ojo (SAN), all through to the present administration. You were saying the obvious when you said I have served the Bar during the golden years, and without any hesitation whatsoever, I intend to bring my experience to bear. Experience they say is the best teacher. As important as experience is in human endeavor, it cannot be purchased in the open market. I have acquired ability and developed capacity for leadership over the period of 30 years of my active and constructive engagement at the Bar.

I have also nurtured this ability by drawing grace from leaders of the Bar who have served the Bar very meritoriously, some of them I have mentioned. The secret of men are in their stories, if given the priviledge, I believe I have the capacity to deliver on our members expectations.