Egbe Amofin O’odua, the Yoruba Lawyers Forum, has defended the directions issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, on the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association election dispute, accusing the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, of being uncomfortable with what it described as efforts to ensure a free, fair, transparent and credible election.
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In a 19-page statement dated July 9, 2026, and signed by its Chairman, Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju, SAN, and Secretary, Prince Adetunji Oso, SAN, the forum said the uproar that followed the AGF’s directions was unwarranted and had failed to address the substance of the recommendations made by the three-man committee set up to examine the crisis within the NBA.
The statement was titled, “The Question Afam Osigwe, SAN, President Nigerian Bar Association Must Answer: Why Is He Uncomfortable With A Free, Fair, Transparent And Credible Election?”
Egbe Amofin said certain persons and groups, including Osigwe, the Eastern Bar Forum and the Mid-Western Bar Forum, had made what it described as disparaging comments against the AGF and respected leaders of the Bar from the South-West without objectively addressing any of the AGF’s directions.
According to the forum, rather than engage the substance of the directions, the critics resorted to grandstanding and attacks, especially against the person and office of the AGF.
The group alleged that Osigwe’s reaction exposed what it described as his discomfort with measures aimed at preventing electoral fraud in NBA elections.
The forum stated that recent NBA elections had been characterised by complaints of manipulation, malpractice and credibility issues, tracing the controversy back to the 2018 NBA presidential election.
It recalled that after the 2018 election, Chief Arthur Obi-Okafor, SAN, who contested and was declared runner-up, described the exercise as “the biggest embarrassment and robbery in the Association’s electoral history.”
It also cited the reaction of Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, who described the process as one affected by corruption, vote-buying, vote capture, rigging and a skewed system.
Egbe Amofin further referred to comments by Professor Chidi Odinkalu, who described the 2018 process as “a racket” and said the outcome lacked legitimacy.
The forum said the controversies from the 2018 election were followed by criminal proceedings instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against some lawyers over alleged conspiracy to alter personal details, including email addresses and phone numbers, of about 1,004 eligible voters.
It argued that the AGF’s directions were intended to address electoral practices which, according to it, had brought the legal profession into disrepute.
The forum said the present dispute must also be understood against the background of the June 11, 2026 meeting convened by the AGF with past NBA Presidents and counsel representing parties in pending suits relating to the NBA election.
According to Egbe Amofin, the meeting led to the constitution of a three-man committee comprising Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, SAN; Prince Lanke Odogiyan; and Paul Usoro, SAN, FCIArb, to look into the causes of the conflicts within the NBA and recommend a way forward.
The forum disputed Osigwe’s account of the meeting and his allegation of bias against Olanipekun.
It said the lead counsel to the NBA, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, first suggested Olanipekun to chair the committee, but that Olanipekun initially resisted the assignment before he was prevailed upon by the AGF and other stakeholders to accept it in the interest of the profession.
Egbe Amofin said the committee’s report itself confirmed that Olanipekun had pleaded to be excused from serving but was persuaded to accept the assignment.
The group also relied on the committee’s report to fault Osigwe’s alleged refusal to participate in the committee’s virtual proceedings.
It said the NBA President had called the chairman of the committee on June 22, 2026, stating that he had not submitted any memorandum but was ready for any virtual engagement the committee might want to have with him on June 23.
The forum said a Zoom link was subsequently sent to Osigwe, but he failed to join the meeting, did not respond to calls and did not reply to messages until the committee concluded its sitting.
Egbe Amofin also cited the minority report submitted by Paul Usoro, SAN, which it said stated that it was unfortunate that the NBA President did not honour the committee’s invitation.
According to the forum, the NBA President, being the leader of the association, had a primary responsibility to douse the tension surrounding the 2026 election and assure members that he would not influence or interfere with the work of the Electoral Committee of the NBA.
On the role of the AGF, Egbe Amofin rejected the suggestion that the Attorney-General’s leadership of the Bar was merely ceremonial.
It said the AGF, as Chief Law Officer of the Federation, is the official leader of the Bar at the federal level, just as Attorneys-General of states are recognised as leaders of the Bar within their jurisdictions.
The forum said the role of the AGF goes beyond ceremony and carries responsibilities connected with the administration of justice, the rule of law and supervision of legal affairs.
It questioned why Osigwe and other stakeholders attended the June 11 meeting convened by the AGF and voluntarily undertook to abide by the resolutions if they believed the AGF’s role was merely ceremonial.
“One cannot, with intellectual consistency, submit to a process, agree to be bound by its resolutions, and thereafter seek to denigrate the authority under which that process was convened merely because subsequent developments have proven inconvenient,” the statement said.
Egbe Amofin also defended the AGF’s direction on the use of National Identification Number for the NBA election, saying NIN is a mandatory legal requirement under Nigerian law.
The forum said the amended NIMC Act 2026 makes the use of NIN compulsory for several transactions and is designed to promote the principle of “one person, one identity.”
It argued that the use of NIN would reduce duplication, strengthen verification and help address identity fraud, multiple registrations, impersonation and other practices it alleged had affected NBA elections.
The forum also addressed the issue of sub-zoning, saying although the AGF’s directions did not wholly accept its position that the arrangement should immediately apply to the current election cycle, the directions accepted the principle that the arrangement should be implemented in the next round of elections.
According to Egbe Amofin, this means the forum fought a battle from which it would derive no immediate benefit, as the beneficiaries would be the zones contesting offices in the next election cycle.
It further said the three-man committee made 14 recommendations, none of which had been properly challenged by critics of the AGF.
According to the forum, the recommendations included the withdrawal of all pending court cases, the use of records from Access Bank to identify lawyers who paid their Bar Practising Fees, the compilation of a fresh voters’ register from branch level to national level, the use of mobile SMS for voter authentication instead of email, and a recalibration of succession to NBA offices in line with practices in international professional bodies.
Egbe Amofin accused Osigwe of wrongly importing the issue of “universal suffrage” into the committee’s report and the AGF’s directions, insisting that no such recommendation was made.
It also denied that Chief Olanipekun made submissions against universal suffrage at the June 11 meeting, describing the attempt to link him to such a position as erroneous and misleading.
The forum further criticised Osigwe over comments he reportedly made during an NBA-SPIDEL event on April 13, 2026, where he spoke about the need to trust women with political leadership and stated that no woman had ever been elected President of the NBA.
Egbe Amofin said it took exception to what it described as Osigwe’s derogatory reference to Chief Mrs. Priscilla Kuye, SAN, as merely completing the tenure of Sir Clement Akpamgbo, SAN.
It insisted that Kuye was the first female President of the NBA and a pride to Egbe Amofin, the NBA and womanhood.
The forum said it was not opposed to a female President of the NBA, noting that the South-West had produced several prominent women in the legal profession, including Chief Folake Solanke, CON, SAN, the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Mrs. Hairat Balogun, OON, the first female General Secretary of the NBA and first female Chairman of the Body of Benchers.
However, it questioned why Osigwe, when the presidency was zoned to the South-East in 2024, did not step down for a female candidate or support any female leader from his region.
It also alleged that Joyce Oduah, who had shown interest in contesting for NBA President in 2024, was disqualified to pave the way for Osigwe.
Egbe Amofin said its objection was not to any female aspirant but to what it described as an attempt by a “ruling house” or “cabal” to impose a candidate on the South-West and present such a candidate as the choice of the zone.
It said although the micro-zoning arrangement within Egbe excluded the zone of the female candidate being supported by Osigwe’s camp, its screening committee still allowed her to participate fully in the screening process.
According to the forum, she complied with the criteria but ranked fourth out of the four aspirants who participated in the exercise.
Egbe Amofin said its concern was not with the individual candidate but with what it described as an attempt to foist the candidate on Egbe Amofin and the South-West from outside the zone.
The forum also responded to criticisms from the Mid-Western Bar Forum and the Eastern Bar Forum, saying it would not engage in abuse of learned colleagues or elders.
It said while it respected leaders from other fora, including the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, HRH Albert Akpomudje, SAN, it would not accept disrespect or attacks against Egbe Amofin and its leaders.
The forum urged the Mid-Western and Eastern Bar Fora to focus on what it described as the real problems within the NBA rather than attacking South-West leaders.
It said it had never interfered in the internal affairs of other regional fora and would not sponsor rebellion against any forum, adding that such conduct would be unhealthy for the NBA.
On the suit filed in Ibadan, Egbe Amofin said it approached the court only after several appeals and letters to NBA organs, the Board of Trustees, past presidents and past secretaries were allegedly ignored.
The forum said it was pushed to the wall and denied that it acted improperly by instituting the action.
It also accused Osigwe of openly declaring that he would not obey court orders and of making good that declaration.
Egbe Amofin further alleged that certain forces within the NBA had politicised the Body of Benchers and were using statutory positions to reward loyalists and punish perceived opponents.
It cited the removal of Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, from the Body of Benchers after he accepted to serve as leading counsel to Egbe Amofin, and the alleged elevation of a female aspirant to the Council of Legal Education after she switched support from Aare Akinboro, SAN, to the preferred candidate of Osigwe’s camp.
The forum also accused Osigwe of dissolving the executive of the NBA Port Harcourt Branch and imposing a caretaker committee allegedly headed by a campaign director of the preferred female presidential candidate.
It further alleged that he had earlier constituted a caretaker committee for the Abuja Branch and disabled NBA-SPIDEL without proper constitutional authority.
Egbe Amofin criticised Osigwe for calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission to be neutral, independent and faithful to democratic values in political party matters, while allegedly failing to uphold the same standards in the internal affairs of the NBA.
It said Osigwe had stated in his July 7, 2026 press statement that the “purported sub-committee report” and “purported directives” of the AGF were beyond remit and biased, but argued that no sub-committee was set up, no sub-committee report was submitted, and the AGF issued “directions,” not “directives.”
The forum said there was a legal distinction between directions and directives, and questioned the basis for the allegation of bias against the AGF.
It maintained that both the majority and minority reports of the committee had raised concerns about Osigwe’s conduct and alleged bias.
Egbe Amofin concluded by saying the institutional credibility of the NBA was at stake and that the association’s election process must be examined through the lens of rule of law, public confidence and democratic legitimacy.
It said lawyers cannot credibly demand democratic standards from others unless they uphold such standards within their own association.
“The NBA internal governance must be connected with the broader constitutional role of lawyers in the society. Lawyers cannot credibly demand democratic standards from others unless they uphold such standard within their own Association,” the forum stated.
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