This is the 5th post in our series on the comparison and qualitative assessment of the 2018
NBA, Presidential Candidates. Our comparison has been based on the profiles of
the candidates as provided online, though some of these profiles were silent on
certain criteria which we have used for our comparisons, we have stated same
where applicable.

Please note that you can
view the complete profiles of all the Presidential candidates, you may find
same via this links;  Mr. Paul
Usoro, SAN, FCIArb
; Prof.
Ernest Ojukwu, SAN
; Mr.
Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN FCIArb
and Mazi
Afam Osigwe, LLM, FCIArb
.

Our first post examined the Background
of the Candidates; the second examined their contributions to lawyers welfare
and law reforms; the third had a look at their respective NBA
Activities
; while the fourth examined their Advocacy
and Practice Skills.

The choice of the most preferred
candidate to lead the Bar is critical to national development and also to the
welfare of legal practitioners. Such member of the Bar must be the best man for
the job. Therefore, study carefully our comparisons of the profiles of these
aspirants and pick the best man to lead the Nigerian Bar Association.

You may also download the
full report here.

Corporate
Governance & Leadership


PAUL USORO, SAN        

1.         Paul at various times, served on the Boards of several
blue-chip companies including:

a.         Premium Pensions Ltd,

b.         CR Services (Credit Bureau) Plc (representing Zenith Bank
Plc),

c.         Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc,

d.         Boards of PZ Cussons Plc,

e.         Airtel Networks Limited,

f.          Marina Securities Ltd,

g.         Access Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading banks.

2.         Paul is a pioneer director of Airtel Nigeria Limited,
Nigeria’s leading mobile telephone company, having been appointed to the
Company’s Board in 2001, then known as Econet Wireless Networks Limited; the
company has over the years undergone major ownership and structural changes
prior to being acquired by Bharti Airtel of India in 2010.  Paul was the only pioneer director of the
company that survived the several changes in ownership of the company until his
resignation in February 2018.

3. Chairmanship of Boards
and Critical Board Committees

Exposure in the boardroom as
chair of key committees refined Paul’s skills on essential development and
growth factors for successful organizations with focus on corporate governance,
strategic thinking and financial accountability. Paul’s robust leadership
experience in the boardroom are listed hereunder:

a.         Chairman, Board of Marina Securities Limited.

b.         Chairman, Access Bank Plc Board Remuneration Committee. 

c.         Chairman, Access Bank Plc Board Governance & Nomination
Committee.

d.         Chairman, PZ Cussons People & Governance Committee of
the Board.

e.         Member, Access Bank Plc Board Audit Committee,

f.          Member, Access Bank Plc Risk Management Committee

g.         Member, Access Bank Board Risk Credit and Finance Committee.

h.         Past Chairman, Airtel Board Audit Committee.

i.          Past Chairman, Premium Pensions Limited Board Audit
Committee.

j.          Past Chairman, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc Board
Audit Committee.

4. On 22nd February 2018,
Paul was awarded the Corporate Governance Rating System (GCRS) “Rating
Certificate” by the Board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and The Convention on
Business Integrity. The award of the Rating Certificates was in recognition of
Paul’s excellent scores in the Fiduciary Awareness Certification Test (FACT) of
the CGRS administered to directors of Access bank as part of the CGRS
certification exercise in Nigeria.

 5. The leadership and membership of corporate
board committees gives Paul the opportunity to implement skills acquired in the
executive trainings he has attended over the years some of which are listed
below:

a.         Making Corporate Boards More Effective, Harvard Business
School, Boston, USA (November 2014)

b.         Audit Committees in a new Era of Governance, Harvard
Business School, Boston, USA (July 2013)

c.         Leadership Best Practices, Harvard Business School, Boston,
USA

d.         Finance for Executives Program at the Fontainebleau Campus
of INSEAD, France (April 2017)

e.         Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive,
Columbia Business School in New York, USA (March 2018)

6. President, Law Society,
University of Ife. Even at a young age, Paul contested for and won the
Presidency of the Law Society of the then University of Ife, (now OAU) becoming
the first student from Nigeria’s ethnic minorities as at that time to occupy
such office.


PROF. ERNEST OJUKWU, SAN          

1.         Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Asaba (2011 –
Present)

2.         President, University of Calabar Alumni Association, Onitsha
Chapter (2003 – Present).

3.         Member, Defunct Idemili Local Govt. Town Planning Authority,
Anambra State 1995.

4.         Member, Idemili South Local Government Town Planning
Authority, Anambra State.

5.         An Assessor with the Delta State Multi-Door Court House for
listing Arbitrators, Mediators and Conciliators.

6.         Author and co-Author of Law Books. 


ARTHUR OBI-OKAFOR, SAN

1.         Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Asaba (2011 –
Present)

2.         President, University of Calabar Alumni Association, Onitsha
Chapter (2003 – Present).

3.         Member, Defunct Idemili Local Govt. Town Planning Authority,
Anambra State 1995.

4.         Member, Idemili South Local Government Town Planning
Authority, Anambra State.

5.         An Assessor with the Delta State Multi-Door Court House for
listing Arbitrators, Mediators and Conciliators.

MAZI AFAM OSIGWE   

1.         Chairman of NBA Abuja Branch, December 2010 to December
2012.

2.         Editor-In-Chief of the Unity Voice (the monthly newsletter
of NBA Abuja) from 2011-2013.

3.         He is also the Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser of many
companies.