NSE Leadership Crisis Worsens, Court Bars Conduct Of Elections

The leadership crisis rocking the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) has taken a worse turn as Justice Venchak Gaba of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, has restrained the engineers from conducting the 2023 election or further election of the body slated for November 29 and 30.

  NSE crisis started on December 9, 2021 when it conducted its 2022 National Executive Committee (NEC) election through an online platform.

 The outcome of the election was not accepted by some members of the society who alleged that some people hacked the database of the organisation to manipulate the outcome of the election.

 They returned to the trenches in the substantive suit, marked: CV/158/21, where the claimant, Engr. Joseph Akinteye, who was a contestant in the election in a motion on notice marked: M/490/23, and brought before the court on Friday, November 24, 2023, through Salisu Umar with A.A. Liman and Charles Ikechukwu  on his behalf to the court.

 He named the NSE, its chairman of Board of Trustees, Engr. Emeka Eze, the chairman of NSE 2021 Election Appeal, Engr. Charles Mbanefo and Mrs Margret Aina Oguntala as defendants.

 Justice Gaba granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 1st-3rd defendants, their representatives, agents, privies, the NSE Electoral Panel,  its Council and Board of Trustees, and/or anybody acting through them from inaugurating Engr Oguntala  (4th defendant) as the elected president of the NSE slated for January 2024, based on the society’s Memorandum and Articles of Association (MEMART).

 The judge, who fixed January 25, 2024, for the hearing of the substantive suit, directed the NSE, its Council, NSE Electoral Panel and Board of Trustees, and/or anybody acting through them to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of the claimant’s substantive suit before the court.

The judge ordered that a caretaker committee be formed to avoid a vacuum in the leadership of NSE pending the determination of the suit.