The University of Calabar’s suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, has been accused of sexual assault. The Nigerian Bar Association has formed an ad hoc committee to look into the claims.
The NBA also filed complaints against Hudu Yunusa-Ari, a suspended resident electoral commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission in Adamawa State, and Ifunanya Grant, a young attorney in Aba.
The complaints against Miss Grant focused on her social media notoriety for posting images and videos of herself naked and smoking marijuana, while Yunusa-Ari was petitioned over his part in illegally announcing the outcome of the supplementary governorship election in 2023 in Adamawa State while ballots were still being counted.
According to a statement made on Saturday by the NBA’s National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Lawal, the decision was made by the National Executive Committee of the NBA at a recent monthly meeting that was attended by all national officers of the NBA and presided over by its President, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN).
“The NBA NEC subsequently appointed an ad-hoc committee to investigate the claims against the university don,” the statement said. Similar to this, in their earlier monthly meeting, the national officials discussed the deplorable behavior of some legal professionals.
Following the national officers’ decisions, the NBA petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee on behalf of Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, as well as Ifunanya Excel Grant, a young lawyer from the Aba Branch who is infamously known online as “the baddest lawyer.”
“Yunusa-Ari was petitioned over his role in illegally announcing the outcome of the supplementary governorship election in 2023 in Adamawa State while votes were still being counted, while the complaints against Miss Ifunanya focused on her social media notoriety of posting pictures and videos of herself smoking marijuana while unclothed.”
The statement further stated that until the LPDC renders its decisions following a fair trial, none of the lawyers who were the subject of petitions or who were under investigation were found to have engaged in professional misconduct.
The statement continued, “The NBA President has emphasized the necessity for attorneys to continue to be of best behavior wherever they find themselves, and he stressed that the current NBA leadership will not relent in purging the profession of the very few bad eggs that may be detected.
