The new president will succeed Okey Wali

Augustine Alegeh on Tuesday emerged the new President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA.

Mr. Alegeh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, polled 691 votes to defeat three other contestants at the association’s conference in Abuja. His closest rival, Dele Adesina, secured 370 votes while Funke Adekoya got 255 votes, Niyi Akintola 126 votes, and Justus Erhabor 17 votes.

The new NBA president, 50, who hails from Ikabigbo in Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State, will succeed Okey Wali, an indigene of Rivers State in the same South-South zone.

He will be sworn in alongside other new members of the executive during the Association’s Annual General Conference in Owerri, Imo State, between August 24 and 29.

The Midwest Bar Forum of NBA had last year adopted him as its candidate for the NBA Presidency at its meeting held in Agbor, Delta State.

Mr. Alegeh, 50, was born in Warri, Delta State and attended the University of Benin where he graduated in law in 1985. He won the Bola Ajibola Prize for Civil Procedure at the Nigerian Law School. Between 1986 and 1989, he practiced with Sadoh & Co.

In 1989, the new NBA president-elect became the Managing Partner of the Company, which became Alegeh, Agun & Co  following the appointment of its former principal partner as a judge of the Bendel State High Court. In September 1990, the firm became known as Alegeh & Co.

Mr. Alegeh, who became a SAN in 2007, has been an active member of the NBA and until his election was its Chairman of the Database and Documentation of Nigerian Lawyers Committee. He once served as the alternate chairman of the Technical Committee on Conference Planning.

In his manifesto for the election, the new president said he would provide a relief package for lawyers adversely impacted by violence in the country, provide specialized stamps and seals for lawyers; secure more works for lawyers; ensure that only lawyers are permitted to operate at Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Lands Registries and all such other registries; proper notification of lawyers when courts are sitting, among others.