
Mary Akanbi
14th July, 2025

Mrs Cordelia C. Eke;
Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch
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 BRANCH SOCIAL 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.
Tensions 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.

Mary S. Dikibo;
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.
It remains to be seen if the meeting will be convened by the Branch Chairman as requested in the aforementioned Requisition Letter.
See the said letters respectively below;
The Letter from the Chairman; The Disclaimer from the Vice-Chairman; and The Statement from the Social Secretary