The ratification of the suspension of Joyce Oduah as Secretary General of the Nigerian Bar Association has been nullified by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The court set aside the ratification by the National Executive Council of the NBA on Tuesday on the ground that the action was an affront to the rule of law and a violation of the court’s proceedings in the matter.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, while ruling in an application filed and argued by Ayotunde Ogunleye on behalf of the plaintiff, held that the NBA’s NEC, which gave legal effect to the suspension of the plaintiff, acted in bad faith and in utter disregard for the proceedings of the court.
The Judge agreed with Ogunleye that the ratification done on August 21 ought not to have been carried out by the NEC in view of the pendency of a suit challenging the suspension in the first instance.
Justice Mohammed also agreed with the plaintiff’s counsel that the purported ratification was not only an affront to the court but a denigration of the sanctity of the judiciary, which on several occasions had been condemned by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Ogunleye had, in his application, drawn the court’s attention to the fact that the outgoing President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata, who is second defendant in the suit against the suspension, presided over the August 21 meeting of the NBA’s NEC where the purported ratification was carried out.
He urged the court to condemn the council for resorting to self-help in a suit being adjudicated by a court of law.
Justice Mohammed agreed that having submitted to court jurisdiction, joined issues with the plaintiff in court, and with or without express order of court, no party ought to have taken any further steps on the subject matter of the litigation.
The court thereafter fixed August 31 for hearing in a motion on notice seeking a mandatory order of injunction against the defendants in the suit.
Contact: theeditor[at]punchng.com
