Foremost Law Professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof Ernest Ojukwu SAN, has dragged the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Paul Usoro SAN, General Secretary, Jonathan Gunu Taidi and the Trustees of the Association to court for failure of the Association’s leadership to respond to his Freedom of Information request.
The Professor of Law, had earlier on 29th October 2018, made an FOI request from the NBA for the following information;
a. Report of the Nigerian Bar Association 2018 Ad-hoc Transition Committee.
b. The budget approved by the NBA National Executive Committee for the 57th Annual
General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association 2017.
c. The breakdown of the account for the 57th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar
Association 2017.
d. Detail of cost of Nigeria Bar Association sponsorship of international conferences for all
lawyers including Nigerian Bar Association National Officers from 2016 to 2018.
e. Details of all lawyers handling NBA matters in courts and details of payments made to
them from 2016-2018.
f. Details of the Nigerian Bar Association income and expenditure account from 2016 to
2017.
g. Details of the Nigerian Bar Association income and expenditure account from 2017 to
2018.
h. Account of all expenditures made from the MacArthur Foundation Criminal Justice
Reform funds and bank statement of the account from 2017-2018.
i. The budget approved by NBA National Executive Committee for the NBA Criminal
Justice Reforms Conference organised by the NBA Criminal Justice Reforms Committee
held at Asaba, Delta State from April 24 to 28, 2018.
j. The breakdown of account for the NBA Criminal Justice Reforms Conference organised
by the NBA Criminal Justice Reforms Committee held at Asaba, Delta State from April 24
to 28, 2018.
k. The breakdown of all the payments made to members of the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee from 2012 till date.
l. The breakdown of all the payments made to NBA Prosecutors at the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee from 2012 till date.
m. The contract signed to engage the services of PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) for the
purpose of auditing and reviewing the NBA Account.
n. the budget approved by Nigerian Bar Association’s National Executive Committee for the
58th NBA Annual General Conference 2018.
The Association failed to respond to the professor’s request as required by the FOI Act 2015 and the professor is now seeking the courts intervention on the issue.
In the suit obtained by barristerNG.com, the Applicant is seeking two reliefs from the Respondents thus;
- A declaration that failure of the respondents to furnish the Applicant with information and Documents sought vide the Applicant’s letter of 29th October 2018 amounts to wrongful denial of information under the freedom of information Act.
- AN ORDER compelling the Respondents to, within 7 days, furnish the Applicant with information and copies of documents sought vide Applicant’s letter of 29th October 2018 and which information and documents are set out in the schedule herein stated.
Click below to download the Court Processes.
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