Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN, has rejected allegations that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is attempting to impose a candidate in the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association presidential election, insisting that if any of the three contestants could be described as an “establishment candidate,” it would be Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN.
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Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, Adebayo described the claim that the Federal Government was behind the crisis surrounding the election as “outright falsehood.”
He alleged that Badejo-Okusanya had links with influential figures associated with the current political establishment, citing her previous role as a political aide under former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and her professional association with a former Lagos State Attorney-General.
Adebayo also pointed to the fact that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, is Badejo-Okunsanya’s younger sister.
According to him, these relationships made it inappropriate for opposition figures to present another candidate as the choice of the Federal Government without conducting sufficient research.
“If there is any candidate of the establishment among the three presidential candidates that we have in the NBA now, it is Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya,” he said.
He accused opposition politicians of attempting to make political capital from the internal affairs of the NBA and described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s allegation that the Tinubu administration was interfering in the election as unfounded.
“It is outright falsehood. The opposition parties try to make political capital out of things that do not exist. Atiku Abubakar, with respect to him, was crying wolf where there was none,” he said.
Adebayo maintained that opposition politicians should properly investigate issues before making public statements, alleging that some of them were more interested in attacking the government than establishing the facts.
While absolving the Tinubu administration, Adebayo accused the incumbent NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, of being responsible for much of the tension surrounding the election.
He alleged that Osigwe had failed to demonstrate neutrality and was openly supporting Badejo-Okunsanya against the two other presidential candidates.
Adebayo identified the three candidates as Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN; Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN; and Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN.
He acknowledged that all three candidates were eminently qualified to lead the association but maintained that the NBA President should not be seen to favour or attempt to impose one of them.
“The main problem with the forthcoming NBA election is the President of the Bar, Mr Afam Osigwe. He is the one heating up the polity,” he said.
“There are three candidates aspiring to be President of the Bar, and all of them are eminently qualified. But the NBA President has not shown or displayed neutrality in the forthcoming election.
“He is supporting, and has displayed that he is all out to impose and support one candidate out of the three.”
Adebayo argued that the conduct of the incumbent leadership had created unnecessary suspicion and division within the association.
The senior lawyer initially rejected suggestions that the NBA election had been politicised, explaining that the association was not organised along the lines of Nigeria’s registered political parties.
He said although some lawyers belonged to political parties or participated actively in politics, many NBA members were not politicians.
According to him, political parties should not import their partisan battles into the internal affairs of the legal profession.
“The NBA election has not been politicised in any manner because the NBA is not an avenue for registered Nigerian political parties to play politics,” he said.
“They should not bring us into their political arena because we do not have political parties in the Bar. Some members of the Bar are politicians, while many others are not.”
He maintained that the disagreement concerned the NBA’s internal zoning and electoral arrangements rather than a contest among the country’s political parties.
Adebayo said the NBA presidency had been zoned to the Western Zone for the 2026 election.
He explained that the zone comprised the Yoruba-speaking states of the South-West as well as Edo and Delta states, traditionally represented by the Midwest Bar Forum.
According to him, the Midwest Bar Forum conceded the opportunity to produce the next NBA President to the Yoruba-speaking component of the Western Zone.
He said this explained why all three presidential candidates were from the Yoruba-speaking states.
“This year’s election has been zoned to the South-West. It is the turn of the South-West,” he said.
“The NBA South-West consists of the Yoruba-speaking part and the Edo and Delta part, which is the Midwest. The Midwest, which is the other segment, conceded the presidency of the NBA this time around to the Yoruba-speaking part to produce the candidates.
“That is why all the three candidates running are Yoruba.”
Adebayo defended the role of regional lawyers’ associations in the election process, maintaining that the NBA Constitution recognises regional fora.
He listed the Eastern Bar Forum, Arewa Lawyers Forum, Egbe Amofin O’odua and Midwest Bar Forum among the recognised regional organisations within the association.
He said Egbe Amofin invited the three presidential aspirants, screened and evaluated them before selecting Akinboro as its preferred candidate.
According to him, the group did not find the other aspirants unqualified but concluded that Akinboro was the most suitable of the three.
“The NBA Constitution recognises regional fora. We have the Eastern Bar Forum, the Arewa Lawyers Forum, Egbe Amofin and the Midwest Bar Forum,” he said.
“Egbe Amofin set up a committee and invited the three aspirants. All three of them submitted themselves to the interview. They were screened and evaluated.
“Egbe Amofin came to the conclusion that Akinboro was the most eminently qualified. All of them are eminently qualified, but it considered him the most eminently qualified among the three.”
Adebayo said Egbe Amofin also considered its internal micro-zoning arrangement before selecting its preferred candidate.
He explained that the relevant sub-zone comprised Oyo and Osun states.
According to him, Oyo State had previously produced an NBA President in the late Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN, who also served as Attorney-General of the Federation, while Osun State had never produced a national president of the association.
He said Egbe Amofin consequently concluded that it was Osun State’s turn to produce its preferred candidate.
“The issue of micro-zoning within the South-West zone of the NBA was also considered,” he said.
“Oyo State had in the past produced a President of the Bar in the person of the late Chief Richard Akinjide, a former Attorney-General of the Federation, but Osun State had never produced a President of the Bar.
“In its wisdom, Egbe Amofin came to the conclusion that Akinboro was its preferred candidate.”
Adebayo maintained that all three aspirants had voluntarily participated in the Egbe Amofin process and should therefore respect its outcome.
During the interview, Arise Television anchor Rufai Oseni challenged Adebayo’s defence of zoning and micro-zoning.
Oseni argued that the arrangement sounded similar to conventional Nigerian politics, despite the senior lawyer’s insistence that the NBA election had not been politicised.
He questioned why a professional association should decide that one state had previously occupied an office, allocate the position to another state and pressure candidates to withdraw rather than allow members to freely elect their preferred leader.
Adebayo responded that conduct not prohibited by law could not automatically be declared unlawful.
He maintained that zoning and micro-zoning were recognised under the NBA’s existing constitutional framework and that members who opposed the arrangement should seek to amend the constitution.
“Whatever is not prohibited by any law cannot be unlawful,” he said.
“It is because the NBA Constitution recognises zoning and micro-zoning. If the NBA does not want it, then it should delete it from the constitution.”
Adebayo said every organisation had the right to regulate its internal affairs and determine the manner in which leadership positions rotated among its constituent groups.
He added that after the Western Zone completed its turn, the presidency would rotate to another region, including the North and subsequently the South-East, in accordance with the association’s arrangement.
“Any group or body has the right to regulate the way it operates,” he said.
Responding to questions about whether zoning existed when Akinjide contested for the NBA presidency, Adebayo acknowledged that the arrangement did not operate in its current constitutional form at the time.
He explained that zoning developed after the prolonged institutional crisis that affected the NBA between 1992 and 1998.
According to him, the arrangement began as a gentleman’s agreement designed to prevent further conflict and promote inclusion among the association’s regions.
It was subsequently incorporated into the NBA Constitution, which he said was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“When Akinjide was NBA President, there was no zoning in the form we have today,” he said.
“The constitution we are using presently has been amended several times. The extant NBA Constitution has incorporated zoning.
“It was introduced to cure the problems we had in the past in the Bar. When the NBA came back after what I call its sabbatical between 1992 and 1998, the idea of zoning came up.
“It used to be a gentleman’s agreement respected by the parties, but it was later incorporated into our constitution, and that constitution is registered with the CAC.”
He maintained that the present constitutional arrangement remained binding until NBA members amended or removed it.
“If we are not happy with it, let us do away with it. But as of today, that is the extant Constitution of the NBA,” he said.
Adebayo’s remarks followed a question regarding Atiku’s allegation that the Tinubu administration was attempting to disrupt the NBA election as a rehearsal for interfering with the 2027 general elections.
The senior lawyer rejected the allegation and said the crisis was being generated within the association rather than by the Presidency.
He maintained that the conduct of Osigwe and other persons within the incumbent NBA leadership should receive greater scrutiny.
Adebayo argued that it was contradictory to accuse the Federal Government of imposing a candidate when the candidate allegedly favoured by the current NBA leadership had visible relationships with individuals connected to the political establishment.
He accused Atiku and other opposition figures of failing to conduct adequate research before intervening in the association’s electoral dispute.
Despite supporting Egbe Amofin’s endorsement of Akinboro, Adebayo repeatedly acknowledged that Akangbe and Badejo-Okunsanya were also qualified to contest the presidency.
His position was that Egbe Amofin was constitutionally entitled to screen the aspirants and publicly support one of them under its internal arrangement.
He maintained that the principal concern was the alleged lack of neutrality by the NBA President rather than the qualifications of the candidates.
The senior lawyer called for the association’s constitutional processes to be respected and argued that members who opposed zoning should pursue formal amendments rather than disregard an existing arrangement.
He insisted that political parties and politicians should stay away from the NBA’s affairs and allow lawyers to resolve the disagreement through the association’s established structures.
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