Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, FCIArb (UK), Life Bencher and former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, has accused the NBA leadership of allegedly twisting the outcome of a July 15, 2026 meeting convened to address concerns over the Association’s national election, insisting that he remains firmly in the race for NBA President.
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In a four-page statement titled “A Season Of Too Many Lies, Deceits And Half Truths; My Position,” Akinboro said the credibility of NBA national elections had, over the years, suffered serious public doubt among lawyers and members of the public.
He said many lawyers believe NBA elections are manipulated and rigged, adding that such concerns are not imaginary but based on past experiences.
According to him, it is no longer news that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission charged some persons to court over alleged rigging of NBA online elections by altering the email addresses of thousands of eligible voters and allegedly using the same to vote.
Akinboro said it was against that background that his campaign had focused on connecting with majority of Nigerian lawyers, presenting his manifesto, and taking steps to ensure that the 2026 NBA election is free, fair and transparent.
He alleged that those who had benefited from the allegedly flawed electoral system had resisted every push towards a credible election.
“There will be no retreat, no surrender until the NBA is freed from the shackles of the cabal that has held it captive with a rigged election system,” he said.
The senior lawyer also accused the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, of posturing in favour of a particular presidential candidate, whom he allegedly openly supports.
He alleged that the NBA President and his “spin doctors” had used every opportunity to malign his candidature by suggesting that he was the candidate of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation following the directions and outcomes said to have emerged from the three-man committee of past NBA Presidents.
Akinboro said while the NBA President had openly criticised the Attorney-General’s directions and outcomes, he failed to inform members of the Bar that he was part of the meeting where the recommendations leading to the setting up of the three-man committee were made.
He further alleged that it was the NBA President’s counsel, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, who nominated the Chairman of the three-man committee.
Akinboro said the NBA President also failed to inform lawyers that he was not part of the meeting that gave rise to the committee and was only requested, like other candidates, to submit a memorandum to the committee stating concerns about the election.
He said that, like every other member of the Bar, he read the directions of the Attorney-General pursuant to the recommendations of the committee, which he said were aimed at ensuring that the elections were conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.
According to him, those recommendations were, however, maligned by persons who, in his view, continue to benefit from the existing system.
He accused the NBA President of going further to portray the intervention of the Attorney-General as an attempt to hijack and control the NBA.
Akinboro then gave his account of events surrounding the July 15 meeting.
He said that at about 8:52 a.m. on July 15, 2026, he received a call from the NBA President but missed it.
He said he returned the call at about 10:27 a.m., during which the NBA President informed him that the Attorney-General of the Federation had scheduled a meeting to resolve issues affecting the NBA election and had sent a link for him to join.
Akinboro said he later saw that the NBA President had, at about 9:36 a.m., sent him a link to join the meeting by 4:30 p.m.
He said he attended the meeting believing it had been called out of a genuine desire to ensure that a free, fair and credible election was conducted.
According to him, those in attendance included the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN; the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN; the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, HRM Olorogun Albert Akpomudje, SAN; the Chairman of the ECNBA, Aham Ejelam, SAN; members of the ECNBA; and all three presidential candidates in the election.
Akinboro said that at the meeting, he and Yemi Akangbe, SAN, raised similar concerns about the electoral process.
He listed the concerns as the alleged unconstitutional appointment of the ECNBA, the opaque appointment of election service providers, the alleged failure of the ECNBA to carry the candidates along in the election process, concerns over the capacity and competence of the service providers, and the decision of the ECNBA to retain what he described as the old voting system already confirmed to be porous and damaging to the credibility of NBA elections.
He said he and Akangbe also made recommendations at the meeting.
The recommendations, according to him, included that emails, which he described as a porous mode of authentication, should not be used for voter authentication in the election.
He said they also recommended that, pursuant to the NIMC Act, the National Identification Number should be used as the main mode of identification, since every lawyer with a phone number must have registered with NIN.
Akinboro said they further recommended that telephone numbers and NIN should be used for voter authentication; that the voting platform should be configured to accept only one vote per device; that one device should not be used for multiple voting; that any change in voting modalities should require an extension of time to enable the ECNBA to sensitise voters; and that emails should only be used to receive confirmation of voting.
He alleged that although the recommendations were strongly resisted by those he said intended to continue benefiting from manipulation, it was eventually agreed at the meeting that NIN and telephone numbers would be used for voter authentication, that one device would cast only one vote, and that the election would be rescheduled by one week.
Akinboro said he had personally proposed that the election be shifted by two weeks.
He, however, said the ECNBA stated at the meeting that changes to the election platform could be effected within three days, but that because voters needed to be sensitised on the new voting modalities, the parties agreed to shift the election by one week.
He recalled that the election had initially been fixed for July 20, 2026, before the date was later changed to July 18, 2026, allegedly without the approval of the NBA National Executive Council.
According to him, it was therefore surprising that instead of the ECNBA notifying members of the change of date as allegedly agreed at the July 15 meeting, the NBA President called a virtual NEC meeting which he claimed was “micro-managed” to arrive at a predetermined outcome to proceed with the election on July 18.
He alleged that the outcome also jettisoned the agreed modalities that would have guaranteed a free, fair and credible election.
Akinboro said it was surprising that an agreement reached at a meeting aimed at sanitising the electoral process was twisted by the NBA President to malign his candidature and deceive members with what he called lies and half-truths.
He accused the NBA President of taking advantage of the desire of Nigerian lawyers for a free Bar to spin a false narrative that the Attorney-General intended to hijack and control the Bar and impose a candidate.
“With benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that the meeting which the NBA President called and invited me to was not genuinely intended to resolve the issues and see to the conduct of a free and fair election but was clearly orchestrated to blackmail me and the HAGF,” he said.
Akinboro maintained that he remains firmly in the race for the office of NBA President.
He insisted on a free, fair and credible election devoid of manipulation, harassment and intimidation of members.
He also warned against the use of NBA organs and structures to coerce members to support a particular candidate.
The senior lawyer said he stands by the agreement allegedly reached at the July 15 meeting called by the NBA President.
He added that he is ready to present himself for election any day, provided the election is conducted based on the modalities allegedly agreed at the meeting.
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