Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Bencher, has fired a fresh salvo at the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, accusing him of abusing his power and violating the Nigerian Constitution.
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In a detailed response to Osigwe’s earlier reply defending the petition filed against him, Okutepa declared that the NBA President’s actions were not about professional accountability but about witch-hunting and called on him to resign to prevent further damage to the NBA and the legal profession.
Okutepa stated that the NBA President had admitted the facts of the allegations in his initial write-up.
“In your reply to the concerns I raised, you admitted the facts of the allegations in my write-up and you then arrogantly in an infamous manner in professional respect, justified your misconduct for taking such unprofessional and unprecedented actions not only against me but against the administration of justice and due process of law,” Okutepa stated.
“Mr President you know that facts admitted need no further proof. I will visit this your misconduct before the appropriate forum.”
The senior advocate called on Osigwe to resign as NBA President.
“Rather than justifying your misconduct, it is more honourable to resign as President of NBA to prevent further damages being done to the NBA and the nobility of the legal profession under your watch,” Okutepa stated.
Okutepa accused the NBA President of acting as judge in his own cause.
“As you rightly admitted in your reply to me, the issues upon which you sat in the comfort of your office to act as the accuser, the prosecutor and judge all rolled in one to cause my name to be removed from the list of those to be re-appointed to the Body of Benchers under section 3(1)(l) of Legal Practitioners Act 2004 as amended are issues currently not only pending before the High Court of Justice of Oyo State but before the Court of Appeal of Nigeria sitting in Ibadan Oyo State,” he stated.
Okutepa accused Osigwe of violating his constitutional right to fair hearing.
“Perhaps in your haste to pass judgement against me and condemn me unheard, you arrogantly admitted to have been responsible for the removal of my name from the list of those to be re-appointed to the Body of Benchers under section 3(1)(l) of LPA, based on your petition, which petition before it was heard, you had already subjected to adjudication and found me guilty and then removed my name as punishment,” he stated.
“Your actions to remove my name on the basis of your petition before I could be served and heard is an extraordinary breach not only of the rule of natural justice but a gross breach of the Constitution of Nigeria that gives me the right to fair hearing by a Court or Tribunal that is constituted in such a manner as to ensure its impartiality and to be manned by people who are not biased.”
Okutepa reminded the NBA President of his past stance on presumption of innocence.
“So, Mr President, you forgot your famous theory of presumption of innocence which you propounded when one of the NBA Presidents was being tried for alleged criminal offence in the court of law then,” he stated.
“You also forgot to hold others who have pending professional misconduct allegations guilty as you have done to me. Because it involves me, I must be guilty before my guilt is decided.”
The senior advocate accused Osigwe of disrespecting the courts.
“Mr President you also failed in your duty to respect not only the processes pending before the High Court of Oyo State but the appeal which you caused to be filed before the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan,” Okutepa stated.
“More worrisome to me is not the removal of my name from re-appointment by BOB at your behest, but your hasty and baseless claims and conclusions that I procured Ex-Parte orders based on suppression of facts which are issues you have already submitted for adjudication before the High Court of Oyo State. You do not have respect for Court Sir!”
Okutepa denied procuring orders through suppression of facts.
“Be that as it may, let me be clear: I did not procure the orders in the cases before the High Court in Ibadan. I do not engage in such sharp practices. I have not and will not engage professional misconduct,” he stated.
The senior advocate challenged Osigwe’s account of how the ECNBA was constituted.
“The orders you claimed were procured were granted based on facts including your admission in your presidential address to lawyers in NBA NEC meetings in Benin where you already had nominated and appointed those to serve on ECNBA without regard to NBA constitution that vests the power of appointment of members of ECNBA on NBA NEC,” Okutepa stated.
“Mr President, you are not NBA NEC. NBA NEC is not you. The communique you referred to in your reply to me, spoke of ratification of the appointment you already made in your Presidential address. As a lawyer Mr President, you know that ‘ratification’ is not the same thing as ‘appointment’. Perhaps you did not know this.”
Okutepa questioned why other senior advocates on the legal team were not petitioned.
“If truly your objective was for professional accountability and not the issue of witch hunts, why did you leave other eminent members of the legal team in the cases pending against you before the High Court and the Court of Appeal out of your petition,” he asked.
“There are not less than seven other Senior Advocates of Nigeria that are members of the legal team whose names are there for even the blind to see.”
The senior advocate cited LPDC precedents that he said bar the petition.
“Perhaps you forgot that while I was leading you as one of the prosecutors before the LPDC when I was the Chief Prosecutor of NBA, there are established precedents well embodied in decisions of LPDC that matters whose subject matters are in issue before the regular courts cannot be the basis for LPDC to assume jurisdiction,” Okutepa stated.
“Did you forget? Perhaps you forgot or out of deliberate obstruction of justice, you decided to put pen to paper to write your petition against me and to use the said petition as a basis of witch-hunt as you have done.”
Okutepa warned the NBA President against abuse of power.
“I am only extremely worried and concerned about the manner you are abusing your power. I am worried that as President of the largest Bar in Africa your conduct has become worse than those you have duties and responsibilities to hold accountable,” he stated.
“NBA is not your fiefdom and you are not the king that does no wrong. Your conduct is undermining the existence of NBA. Just know it.”
The senior advocate highlighted his performance record as a Bencher.
“Let me conclude that my performances during my tenure both as representative of NBA, 2017-2020 and under section 3(1)(l) of LPA from 2023-2026, was exceptional as can be confirmed from the Secretariat of the Hon Body of Benchers wherein I scored 87% grade of attendance and performances of other functions as a Bencher,” Okutepa stated.
Okutepa emphasised that he was appointed to the Body of Benchers in his own right.
“I was appointed by the Hon Body of Benchers in my own right as an eminent legal practitioner and I was not appointed or nominated by NBA as its representative at the Body of Benchers. It is only the Hon Body of Benchers who has the duty and responsibility to evaluate my conduct and performance as both a Bencher of the Body and Legal Practitioner,” he stated.
Okutepa made a grave allegation about the purpose of the ECNBA constitution.
“As you admitted and it is a well known fact in the NBA, I am the lead counsel to those who are opposed to your inappropriate use of office as NBA president to campaign for one of the aspirants in the forthcoming 2026 NBA elections and your unconstitutional composition of ECNBA which you had constituted to rig the 2026 NBA election in favour of your preferred and anointed aspirant and or candidate,” Okutepa alleged.
“It is pursuant to this that I was denied the right to be reappointed as a member of BOB under section 3(1)(l) of LPA and punished on the basis of the objection; your objection as NBA president because I accepted to lead the team and not play sycophantic role in aid of your unconstitutional composition of ECNBA.”
Okutepa detailed his service to the legal profession.
“It is important to draw your attention to the fact that I have distinguished myself in the service of the legal profession and served the bar selflessly over the years. I was a member of the BOB from 2017 to 2020 representing NBA and I served with commendable admiration as can be seen from my records of service at BOB Secretariat and NBA,” he stated.
“I was the Chief Prosecutor for NBA at LPDC from 2012 to 2017 before I resigned my appointment. In all these positions, I served with diligence commitment and dedication without compromising ethical standards.”
Okutepa concluded with grave accusations against the NBA President.
“Based on the foregoing Mr. President, you were certainly not motivated by the best interests of the Bar and the ethics of the legal profession in your petition. You are arrogantly abusing your power to undermine judicial process and in contempt of court. You are intimidating me as lead counsel. You are obstructing the cause and course of justice by your conduct and your petition,” he stated.
“I say no more. I wish you the best in your misguided ventures.”
The escalating public dispute between Chief Okutepa SAN and NBA President Osigwe SAN has now entered a more intense phase, with increasingly grave allegations being traded between two of the most senior members of the Nigerian Bar.
Okutepa’s call for Osigwe’s resignation represents a significant escalation, as does his accusation that the ECNBA was constituted to rig the 2026 NBA election in favour of a preferred candidate.
The allegation that seven other Senior Advocates of Nigeria on the same legal team were not petitioned raises questions about selectivity that may be difficult for the NBA President to address.
The dispute also highlights fundamental questions about:
- Fair hearing: Whether Okutepa was denied his constitutional right to be heard before his name was removed from the Body of Benchers reappointment list
- Judicial processes: Whether the filing of a petition on matters already before the courts constitutes interference with pending litigation
- LPDC jurisdiction: Whether established precedents bar the LPDC from entertaining matters whose subject matter is before regular courts
- NBA governance: Whether the constitution of the ECNBA followed the NBA constitution
For the Nigerian Bar Association, the public nature of this clash between its President and a former Chief Prosecutor at LPDC, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria, exposes deep divisions ahead of the 2026 NBA elections.
The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee will ultimately determine whether the petition has merit. But the allegations of abuse of power, contempt of court, and election rigging if not adequately addressed may have lasting implications for the credibility of NBA leadership and the integrity of the upcoming elections.
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