A major crisis is brewing in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as the Egbe Amofin O’odu’a, the Yoruba Lawyers’ Forum, has accused NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, of unilaterally annulling the SPIDEL election for alleged personal and partisan reasons.
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The forum warned that the move casts serious doubts on the credibility of the 2026 NBA General Election, raising fears that the Bar’s leadership is on the brink of a historic internal crisis.
In a statement jointly signed by Adetunji Oso, SAN, Secretary of Egbe Amofin O’odu’a, and Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju, SAN, Chairman of the Governing Council, the forum described the action as a blatant abuse of office that undermines internal democracy and threatens to compromise the integrity of the Bar’s forthcoming national elections.
According to the forum, the SPIDEL Annual General Conference (AGC) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was disrupted after nominations had concluded and some candidates had already emerged unopposed.
The association alleged that the NBA President terminated the election process and imposed a caretaker committee, reportedly handpicked by him, to run SPIDEL affairs for the next two years.
Egbe Amofin also alleged that the Secretary of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) 2026, Mr. Aliyu Nasarawa, was used to execute what it described as a “hatchet job” on behalf of the President, raising serious concerns about the impartiality of the electoral body ahead of the 2026 NBA polls.
“It is worrisome that the NBA which has become the conscience of the nation by insisting on due process and berating all the dictatorial tendencies of Government will allow its chief spokesperson, the President, to engage in acts antithetical to democratic norms,” the statement read.
The forum warned that the SPIDEL episode, dubbed “Afamgate,” has eroded the moral authority of the NBA leadership, arguing that a President who allegedly annuls a democratic process for personal gain cannot be trusted to supervise the national election.
“A President who has the audacity to annul a democratic process for pure partisan reasons cannot be trusted to superintend the NBA Election in 2026,” the statement added.
The group further alleged that Osigwe had openly campaigned for a preferred candidate using NBA resources and had deliberately appointed loyalists to the electoral committee to engineer a predictable outcome.
Rejecting the NBA’s official response to the allegations raised by Dr. Anne Agi, one of the affected candidates, Egbe Amofin described the rejoinder as weak and evasive, noting it failed to address whether any formal complaints prompted the annulment.
“The embarrassing and weighty allegations in Dr. Anne Agi’s open letter were allegations touching on the recklessness, abuse of office, dictatorial and undemocratic tendencies of one man – Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN – and not directed at NBA as an association,” the forum stated.
“The allegations, though weighty, shameful, despicable, unbecoming, dictatorial and unethical, were not denied but were rather unfortunately rationalised on the ground that Mr. President acted for the good of SPIDEL and NBA.”
The Yoruba lawyers’ forum called for the immediate dissolution of the current ECNBA 2026, warning that failure to act could permanently damage the NBA’s reputation.
“An Electoral Committee peopled with the likes of Mr. Aliyu Nasarawa, who had shown that they were deliberately chosen to do any hatchet job for Mr. President, cannot produce free, fair and democratically elected national EXCO of the NBA in 2026,” it stated.
The forum also urged past Presidents and Trustees to intervene and rein in the partisanship allegedly exhibited by the current leadership.
Egbe Amofin expressed solidarity with Dr. Anne Agi, Bridget Udokwe, and Barbara Tosan Onwubiko, commending their courage in standing up for democratic principles within the Bar and pledging support to resist any attempt to undermine their rights or the popular will of NBA members.
EGBE AMOFIN PRESS RELEASE ON NBA SPIDEL“We bring a message of solidarity from Egbe Amofin O’odu’a and assure them that at this point in time when the so-called advocates of ‘women for women’ had abandoned them to be thrown under the bus for political expediency, we will stand with them shoulder to shoulder in their struggle against tyranny in NBA,” the statement concluded.
The forum cautioned that the 2026 NBA election will be a defining moment and called on all stakeholders to ensure the process remains free, fair, and transparent.
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