Members of the Port Harcourt Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association were greeted on the morning of Saturday, the 12th of July, 2025 with a letter from the Branch Chairman, Mrs Cordelia Uwuma Eke titled ”. NOTICE OF RECONSTITUTION OF THE NBA PH BRANCH SOCIAL COMMITTEE COMMITTEE
The letter to the Branch served to inform its members of the Chairman’s decision to dissolve the social committee of the Branch chaired by the Social Secretary; Mary S. Dikibo, on grounds of disobedience, insubordination and refusal to take direction from the Branch Chairman as regarding the upcoming annual cocktail set for the 25th of July, 2025. The letter went on to further set up an adhoc committee for the purpose of organising the upcoming cocktail, all without recourse to the general house or the other elected officers of the Branch.
Tension deepened with a disclaimer from the Vice Chairman of the Branch distancing himself and the rest of the Branch’s Executive Committee from the decision of the Chairman as well as a reply from the Social Secretary both on the same day. Statement by the Social Secretary 2025
The letter from the Social Secretary alleged a history of undue interference from the Chairman in the workings of the Social Committee ranging from the insistence that her biological son be hired as a soloist to perform at the 2024 Annual Branch Dinner as well as choosing the various vendors at the event to demanding the selection of specific vendors chosen by her as well as an event planner (costing N1,500,000) for the 2025 cocktail despite objections from the social committee on grounds that a planner was unnecessary as the committee was handling the planning of the event and that they had procured vendors with more expansive packages at much cheaper prices. She expressed that it was due to the Committee’s refusal of the Chairman’s demands that the letter reconstituting it was issued.
Social Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch
If shown to be true, then this is obviously a case of the appropriation and arrogation of the powers and authority of the Social Secretary of the Branch as provided for in section 7(a) of the Third Schedule of the 2015 Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (as amended) by the Port Harcourt Branch Chairman; Mrs Cordelia Uwuma Eke.
In response to this overreach by the Branch Chairman, 60 (sixty) concerned members of the branch have put their signatures to a Requisition for an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Branch (in accordance with section 11 of the Third Schedule of the 2015 NBA Constitution as amended) before the cocktail in a bid to handle the situation before tensions boil over into a full blown crisis at the branch. NOTICE OF DISCLAIMER
It remains to be seen if the meeting will be convened by the Branch Chairman as requested in the aforementioned Requisition Letter.
