NMA sacks Lagos chairman, appoints replacement
Babajide Saheed, the chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association’s Lagos State section, was dismissed as a result of a decision made at an Emergency General Meeting that took place in Lagos on Saturday. As a result, Temidire Ewonowo, the association’s former first vice-chairman, has taken over as chairman in accordance with the NMA constitution.
Following accusations of Saheed’s frequent transgressions of the organization’s rules and regulations, members of the association decided to remove him by a secret ballot.
Speaking on the development, Ewonowo listed a number of transgressions that resulted in the former chairman’s dismissal, such as his refusal to call an Emergency General Meeting within seven days of receiving a request from members and affiliate heads.
Other violations, he claimed, included presenting a list of delegates that was not approved by the same congress and leaving a legally mandated Emergency General Meeting on January 13, 2026.
Additionally, he accused the former chairman of sending members to a disciplinary committee on the basis of what he called an erroneous decision that was never made at the Emergency General Meeting or the State Executive Council Meeting.
I was the first vice-chairman prior to this.
“The affiliate heads served the former chairman with a letter asking him to provide his own account of some of these constitutional violations within the seven-day time frame stipulated in the constitution. He remained silent.
“An emergency meeting should take place within a three-day span. In accordance with our rules and regulations, the congress, along with the leaders of the affiliates, decided to remove the former chairman from office after it failed to hold.
I am now the new chairman of the NMA.
“This is because it is explicitly stated in section eight of section one of the NMA rules and regulations that the first vice-chairman will take over as chairman in the event that the chairman is removed from office,” he explained.
Ewonowo insisted that the procedure was in complete accordance with the association’s rules, pointing out that the necessary quorum for this kind of decision was reached.
He revealed that 112 members and nine affiliate heads attended the meeting, exceeding the required minimum of 30 members and three affiliate heads.
He claims that 93 members supported the removal, four voted against it, and three votes were ruled invalid. He also highlighted that the Emergency General Meeting continues to be the association’s top decision-making body.
