The saga of difficulties persists for Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar. In a recent turn of events, the Nigerian Bar Association has formed a dedicated committee to investigate the allegations of sexual assault made against him.
Recall that the University of Calabar, UNICAL, on Thursday took the decision to indefinitely suspend the Professor “for alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the institution.”
https://www.topsocietynig.com/2023/08/15/sexual-harassment-unical-students-protests-against-dean/
This was after the university in a letter expressed its dissatisfaction with Ndifon’s response to a previous inquiry, which was issued following a student protest against him.
Petitions were submitted by the Nigerian Bar Association against Professor Ndifon, the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari. Additionally, a young lawyer from the Aba Branch, popularly known as “the Baddest lawyer” on social media, Ifunanya Excel Grant, was also included.
The committee consists of NBA’s 1st Vice President, Linda Rose Bala, Assistant General Secretary, Daniel Kip, Chairperson of NBA Women’s Forum, and the Chairman of the NBA Calabar Branch.
Yunusa-Ari’s petition is related to his involvement in prematurely declaring the results of the 2023 supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State while votes were still being tallied. On the other hand, the allegations against Miss Ifunanya revolve around her social media activity, which includes posting explicit images and videos of herself and engaging in marijuana use.
Elaborating on the rationale for this choice, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, the National Publicity Secretary of NBA, stated that the NBA President has underscored the importance of lawyers maintaining the highest standards of behavior wherever they are. Under his leadership, efforts will be made to identify and address any problematic elements among the legal community.
This point was emphasized in a statement released on Saturday. Lawal disclosed that the National Executive Committee of the organization arrived at this decision during their recent monthly meeting, which was chaired by President Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau and attended by all national officers.
The statement said, “The NBA NEC subsequently empanelled an ad-hoc committee comprising the 1st Vice President of the NBA, Mrs Linda Rose Bala, the Assistant General Secretary of the NBA, Mr Daniel Kip, Chairperson of NBA Women’s Forum and the Chairman of the NBA Calabar Branch, to investigate the allegations against the university lecturer.
“You may also be aware of the recent media report of the attempted bribe of Justice Flora Azinge of the National Assembly and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano. The NBA has, by a letter dated August 16, 2023, formally requested His Lordship to avail the NBA of further details in this regard to enable investigation into this allegation.
“In a similar vein, the national officers also deliberated at their earlier monthly meeting over the unbecoming conduct of some members of the legal profession. Following the resolutions of the national officers, the NBA has filed petitions at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee against Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission and Ifunanya Excel Grant, a young lawyer of Aba Branch widely known as “the Baddest lawyer” on social media.
“Yunusa-Ari was petitioned over his role in illegally declaring the result of the supplementary 2023 gubernatorial election in Adamawa State while votes were still being counted. While the complaints against Miss Ifunanya centred on her social media notoriety of posting pictures and videos of herself unclad and smoking marijuana.
“While it is important to underscore the fact that none of the lawyers petitioned or being investigated is deemed guilty of professional misconduct until the LPDC hands down its decisions after fair trial, the NBA President has emphasised the need for lawyers to continue to be of best conduct wherever they find themselves, and he reiterated that the present NBA leadership will not relent in ridding the profession of the very few bad eggs that may be found.”
