Former NBA First Vice President, John Aikpokpo-Martins, has faulted the defence of Egbe Amofin O’odua by Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, insisting that the group’s present call for a transparent Nigerian Bar Association election is contradictory and unconvincing.
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Aikpokpo-Martins was reacting to Okutepa’s statement titled “HAGF Is Not Handing Over NBA To Egbe Amofin,” in which the senior advocate defended the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and argued that the AGF’s intervention in the NBA election crisis was not an attempt to hand over the Association to Egbe Amofin.
In his response titled “Re: HAGF Is Not Handing Over NBA To Egbe Amofin By J.S. Okutepa, SAN: My Response,” Aikpokpo-Martins said he had consistently maintained that Egbe Amofin was neither ready nor prepared to participate in the election, whether transparent or otherwise.
He said that as far back as March, he had warned that Egbe Amofin was allegedly working to create a crisis within the NBA that could lead to a state of emergency and ultimately result in the emergence of a caretaker administration.
According to him, nothing has changed his position, adding that recent developments have only strengthened his conviction.
Aikpokpo-Martins argued that Egbe Amofin had earlier adopted a candidate and insisted that the person be returned as NBA President unopposed.
He said the group thereafter approached the High Court in Ibadan in an attempt to give legal effect to that position.
He questioned how the same group could now present itself as a champion of transparent elections after previously seeking to have its preferred candidate installed without a contest.
According to him, the two positions cannot stand together.
“We are now told that Egbe’s advocacy is for a transparent election, out of fear that the election has been predetermined. This position is contradictory,” he said.
“How can an association that sought the anointing of its candidate as President without an election now claim to be championing a transparent election? The two positions cannot co-exist.”
Aikpokpo-Martins said it was clear to him that Egbe Amofin was shifting ground because its original position that its preferred candidate must be the only candidate had been widely rejected.
He said while he supports calls for a free, fair and transparent NBA election, Egbe Amofin should have limited its advocacy to transparency from the beginning instead of first demanding that its candidate be sworn in unopposed.
According to him, such a principled position would have attracted broader support from members of the Bar who desire credible elections.
“Do we want a transparent election? Absolutely. But Egbe should have confined its advocacy to that, without the prior demand that its candidate be sworn in unopposed. That would have earned it the support of most of us. We all desire free and fair elections,” he said.
Aikpokpo-Martins maintained that he does not believe or trust Egbe Amofin’s current advocacy as presented by Okutepa, whom he described as Egbe’s counsel.
He said the present argument appears designed to mislead lawyers about the group’s original position in the election dispute.
“I therefore do not believe, and I do not trust, Egbe’s current advocacy as now submitted by J.S. Okutepa, SAN, Egbe’s Counsel. It appears designed to mislead,” he said.
His response adds another layer to the ongoing debate over the 2026 NBA national election, the role of Egbe Amofin, the AGF’s intervention and competing claims over whether the current dispute is about electoral transparency or an attempt to enforce a regional consensus arrangement.
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