Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has accused the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, of attempting to use his office to take over the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) ahead of its 2026 national elections.
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Odinkalu made the allegation in a series of posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account after documents surfaced showing that the Attorney-General had convened meetings and issued what he described as “Directions and Outcomes” following efforts to resolve disputes arising from litigation over the forthcoming NBA elections.
According to Odinkalu, he had earlier warned that there were plans to use the office of the Attorney-General to influence the affairs of the NBA if certain interests did not prevail in the ongoing electoral process.
“When I said here last week that there were plans to use the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to take over the NBA if certain parties did not get their way with the upcoming #NBADecides2026, the usual folks acted as if that was a fable. Now we have the evidence in black and white under the hand of the Attorney-General himself,” he stated.
Odinkalu argued that because the Attorney-General is already a party to the pending appeal concerning the NBA election, he cannot lawfully issue binding directives regarding the dispute.
According to him, any settlement proposals made by the AGF can only amount to proposals for consideration by the parties and not binding directions.
“If a party to a pending case is proposing terms of settlement, those cannot be ‘directions.’ At best, they are proposals for the parties to consider,” he said.
He further criticised the Attorney-General for failing to cite any legal provision empowering him to take the actions contained in the document.
“It is notable that the Attorney-General does not cite any source of legal text as authority or basis for the extraordinary whim that he has chosen to indulge in. The reason is because none can be found in existing law,” Odinkalu asserted.
The former NHRC chairman also faulted reported proposals requiring the NBA to mandatorily use the National Identification Number (NIN) for its elections.
He argued that the NBA does not maintain the official Roll of Legal Practitioners, noting that the Roll is maintained by the Supreme Court, which does not keep NIN records for lawyers.
“He wants the NBA election to mandatorily use NIN. But the NBA does not produce the Roll. That is with the Supreme Court, which does not have NIN in its records,” he said.
Odinkalu also rejected what he described as a proposal by the Attorney-General to appoint a sole administrator for the NBA, insisting that no such legal authority exists.
He maintained that the NBA is an incorporated association governed by its trustees and that only its legally constituted organs have authority over its affairs.
“Lateef Fagbemi wants to appoint a sole administrator for the NBA. But he has no such powers. The NBA is an NGO with incorporated trustees. Those are the people who have any legal role in the matters of the Association,” he stated.
He further argued that the Attorney-General was an interested party in the dispute and alleged that his actions reflected the interests he represents.
Odinkalu concluded by expressing confidence that any attempt to interfere with the independence of the Nigerian Bar Association would fail.
“The military tried and failed to take over the NBA or turn it into their plaything. This lot too shall fail. The NBA is not a department of the Federal Ministry of Justice,” he said.
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