ARTICLE 24

SPECIAL PROVISION

1. The income and real property of the Nigerian Medical Association whensoever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the aims and objectives of the Association as contained in Article 2 of this Constitution.
2. Upon the winding up or dissolution of the Association, any remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, of any property or incomes, shall not be paid to or applied among the members of the Association.
3. On winding up or dissolution, after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, all other assets shall be applied, given or transferred to institution or institutions having objectives similar to the objectives of the Association.
The proviso to the above shall be that such an institution shall prohibit the distribution of its assets amongst its members to an extent at least as much as it imposed on the Association under, or by virtue of Article 24 of this Constitution and also provided that such institution(s) shall be determined by the members of the Association at or before the time of dissolution.
4. If no institution is entitled to the assets as contained in Article 24 (3), then the assets shall be given or passed to some charitable objectives.
5. (a) The resignation, suspension, withdrawal, removal or expulsion of a member or group of members of the Association from it shall not entitle any such member or group of members to any of the assets of the Nigerian Medical Association.
(b) The resignation, suspension, withdrawal, removal or expulsion of a member or any group of members of the Association from it shall not absolve the member or group of members from his/its liabilities to the Association or to any external body in any instance where the Association stands as a guarantor for such liability.
6. PROSCRIPTION AND DE-PROSCRIPTION OF THE ASSOCIATION: If ever the Association is proscribed, the officers in office when the proscription order was made shall continue to act for the Association throughout the proscription period. At de-proscription, these officers shall report to the Association their activities during the proscription period. They shall also carry on till such a time when elections can be held provided the elections shall take place within a year of the de-proscription. The period of proscription shall not be counted as part of the term of office for these officers.
The Constitution in existence as at the time of proscription shall govern the activities of the Association at de-proscription. The provisions of the Constitution and of the Standing Orders on amendment shall apply for any repeal and/or suspension of and/or amendment to the Constitution.
Where election cannot be held within a year for whatever reason the provisions of 11 (15) shall apply.
7. SUSPENSION OF THE CONSTITUTION Under no circumstances shall the decision of the Association set aside any provisions of this Constitution, except otherwise decided by the ADM through a 2/3 majority. Such a decision shall subsist only for the purpose of that ADM provided this shall not constitute an amendment to the Constitution.
8. LITIGATION: (a) No member or branch or group shall institute any action in any law court on any issue that is purely an Association matter without allowing the Association to first adjudicate in the matter or without exhausting all the Constitutional provisions in seeking redress within the Association.
(b) Any member or group or branch who wishes to seek redress in any law court on any issue that is purely an Association matter after fulfilling the provision of 24 (8) (a) above shall take leave of the Association to go to a law court by writing through the Secretary-General to the President-in-Council.
(c) He/It shall be free to go to court if the President-in-Council agrees with him or it that he has fulfilled the provision of 24 (8)(a) or where there is incontrovertible evidence that his or its letter was received by the President-in-Council and no decision was taken on his request after six months of the receipt of the letter.
(d) The member, branch or group seeking to take leave of the Association to go to any law court shall personally ensure the receipt of his or its letter by the President-in-Council and distribute the same to all members of the NEC in session.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 5 of this Constitution, any member, branch or group who in the opinion of NEC contravenes the pro- visions of 24 (8) (a) & (b) above, after ascertaining the fact, shall immediately be subjected by NEC to the following disciplinary actions:
(i) He or it shall cease to hold any office at all levels of the Association and recognized professional groups.
(ii) He or it shall cease to represent the Association on any body including the State branch at any Delegates' Meeting.
(iii) He or it shall be disqualified for life from contesting any election in the Association.
(iv) Where there is a court injunction, the above 24 (8) (e) (i) & (iii) shall apply immediately after the period of injunction or after the discharge of the injunction.
(v) Any member, branch group who is dis- satisfied with the application of the above provisions 24 (8) (e) (i) (ii) (iii) and (iv) by NEC may appeal to the ADM through the Secretary-General or President in writing within three months of the decisions of NEC. The decision of ADM shall be final.
(f) Notwithstanding the above provisions, the Association may seek redress in any law court where appropriate.
9. Endowment Fund
An endowment or a fund may be set up for a particular purpose. Any fund or endowment shall be set up by the Association by a resolution of 2/3 of NEC and ratified by a resolution of 2/3 of a Delegates' Meeting. Once established, it can only serve the purpose for which it is set up. The endowment or fund shall be administered by a Standing Committee. Money shall be raised, deposited and transferred into the account for the purpose for which it is set up. No money shall be transferred from the account for whatever purpose other than the purpose for which the fund is set up.
It can be abolished by a resolution of 2/3 members of NEC ratified by a resolution of 2/3 delegates at an ADM.
10. ARRANGEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION:
The provisions of the Constitution of the Nigerian Medical Association shall be arranged as Articles, Sections, Subsections and Paragraphs, of the various Articles that make up the Constitution.
11. INTERPRETATION OF ARITHMETIC FRACTIONS IN THE CONSTITUTION
Any arithmetic fraction in this Constitution shall be approximated to the nearest higher whole number. In other words, any number less than ONE, no matter how small, shall always be approximated to be equal to ONE.
12. CONFLICT
For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Constitution shall prevail and have precedence over those of the Bye-Laws, Standing Orders, Rules and Regulations and any other rules where there is a conflict or for any other cause.
13. SMOKING
Tobacco shall neither be smoked nor used at all meetings of the Association.
14. The Constitution of the Nigerian Medical Association is a single document and all its provisions including those of the Standing Orders in the First Schedule shall be read together.
15. The Association shall employ (an) Administrative Officer(s) or equivalent to administer the Secretariat when it deems it necessary provided none of such employed officer(s) shall be medical or dental practitioner(s).
16. WITHDRAWAL OF SERVICES
Any decision that will bring about withdrawal of medical and or dental services in the Country in any way shall be taken by 2/3 of delegates present at the ADM or an Emergency Delegates' Meeting, provided 2/3 of the State branches are present and vote in support. The FCT-Abuja branch shall be regarded as a State branch for this purpose.