The Nigerian Medical Association has suspended its National President, Bala Audu, over alleged violations of the association’s constitution following an Emergency Delegates Meeting (EDM) held in Abuja on Wednesday.
The meeting, attended by 63 delegates from 23 state branches and the Federal Capital Territory, also approved the establishment of a caretaker committee to oversee the association’s affairs pending elections scheduled for the Annual General Meeting in Kano between April 27 and May 3.
The decision has triggered a leadership crisis, with the Audu-led National Officers Committee (NOC) rejecting the outcome and describing it as unconstitutional and procedurally flawed.
The dispute is linked to the disqualification of six candidates from the forthcoming national elections. The NOC had cited incomplete documentation as the basis for the action, a position challenged by several delegates at the EDM, who argued it was inconsistent with established electoral practices within the association.
Delegates subsequently voted to overturn the disqualification, clearing the affected candidates to participate in the elections.
Reacting, the NMA leadership dismissed the EDM and its resolutions, insisting that due process was not followed in convening the meeting or in suspending the president.
The association’s Secretary-General, Ben Egbo, said the matter would be reviewed in line with the constitution, with appropriate disciplinary measures to follow.
He confirmed that the Annual Delegates Meeting and elections would proceed as scheduled next week, adding that the disqualification of one presidential candidate had been reviewed and upheld.
The leadership maintained that the purported suspension and caretaker arrangement remain invalid, stressing that only constitutionally recognised procedures can guide the association’s actions.
