The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has denied allegations of bias and interference in the association’s electoral process, describing them as premature and unfounded.
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In a response to a petition addressed to the NBA Board of Trustees and circulated on social media, his counsel, Abdul Mohammed, SAN, of Madyan Legal Consult, said the claims failed to recognise constitutional safeguards guiding the process.
The letter argued that the NBA electoral process had not commenced when the petition was written, as no aspirant could be recognised under the constitution without submitting an Expression of Interest form.
It noted that neither petitioner had obtained the form at the time, and therefore no valid contest existed.
It added that the expression of interest window remained open, with the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) issuing four public notices and the deadline set for February 28.
On concerns about the ECNBA’s independence, the response cited constitutional provisions establishing the committee as independent of the President and National Executive Committee.
It stated that ECNBA members are appointed by the National Executive Council, not the President, and that there was no evidence of interference.
The response came after two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Aare Muyiwa Akinboro, SAN, and Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, wrote a formal letter dated February 15, 2026, to the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association demanding the immediate resignation of NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, over what they described as an open admission of bias and persistent partisan conduct during the ongoing electoral process.
The letter was addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and copied to the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, the NBA President himself, all Past Presidents of the Association, and all members of the National Executive Council.
The two Senior Advocates anchored their demands on a statement made by the NBA President at the National Executive Council meeting held in Maiduguri, Borno State, on February 5, 2026.
According to the letter, the President, responding to concerns raised by Mr. Adetunji Osho, SAN, regarding the open distribution of campaign materials at the NEC meeting, declared that he “cannot be neutral” because he has a voting right. He went further to defend his right to support any candidate of his choice and sought to justify his position by analogy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointing an INEC Chairman whilst intending to contest the 2027 presidential election.
“This statement was not made privately. It was not made in jest. It was made openly, on the floor of the National Executive Council, before numerous witnesses, with full consciousness of its implications. The President did not merely admit bias. He defended it. He wrapped it in the language of democratic rights and attempted to normalise conduct that is fundamentally incompatible with his constitutional duties as President of the Association,” the letter stated.
The two SANs stated that the Maiduguri admission did not arise in a vacuum but is the culmination of a pattern of partisan conduct that began months earlier and has steadily intensified.
According to the letter, the partisan activities of the President were first publicly manifested at the NBA Annual General Conference in Enugu in 2025. During the official Health Walk organised as part of the Conference programme, the President used the platform of the NBA and the authority of his office to permit only one presidential aspirant to distribute campaign-branded face caps and stickers to lawyers participating in the Health Walk. No similar opportunity was extended to other aspirants.
The letter further alleged that during the official “Unbarred Party” at the same AGC, a large projection screen displayed a prominent advertisement featuring a large image of the same aspirant.
Beyond the use of institutional platforms, the letter alleged that the President has reportedly engaged in direct lobbying of members of the Bar, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria, urging them to vote for and support the same aspirant to the exclusion of others.
“There are Senior Advocates of Nigeria prepared to testify to the President’s personal calls to lawyers canvassing support for a particular aspirant,” the letter stated.
The most recent instance of such direct lobbying, according to the letter, occurred at the just-concluded Law Week of the NBA Yola Branch, where the President used his presence and platform to canvass support for that aspirant.
The letter raised more troubling allegations about the active deployment of the NBA machinery in support of the same candidate. The two SANs stated that they have credible information that National Secretariat staff have been used to distribute campaign materials to lawyers across various branches of the Association.
“The use of the National Secretariat funded by the membership of the Association to distribute campaign materials for a particular aspirant represents a grave abuse of institutional resources and a fundamental breach of neutrality,” the letter stated.
The letter also raised concerns about the unilateral annulment of the NBA-SPIDEL elections by the President. According to the SANs, the Section on Public Interest and Development Law had commenced an electoral process that was at an advanced stage, with some candidates reported to have emerged unopposed. That process was abruptly annulled by the President, and a caretaker committee was imposed to run the affairs of SPIDEL for the next two years.
The letter noted that Egbe Amofin Oodua likened this development to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The SANs rejected the President’s analogy comparing himself to the President of Nigeria appointing an INEC Chairman, stating: “The NBA President is not a distant appointing authority. He is the head of the Association under whose watch the ECNBA is constituted and under whose leadership the electoral process is conducted. The proximity, influence, and institutional control he wields are direct and substantial.”
“No one disputes his right to vote. The issue is institutional neutrality. He cannot be both partisan advocate and overseer of the electoral environment,” the letter stated.
In light of the foregoing, Akinboro and Akangbe called on the Board of Trustees to intervene urgently and decisively, making four specific demands:
First, they called on Afam Osigwe, SAN, to resign immediately as President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Second, they called for the immediate reconstitution of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, with clear safeguards guaranteeing independence, transparency, and neutrality.
Third, they called for the establishment of an independent election oversight mechanism, free from the influence of the President or any partisan interests.
Fourth, they called on the Board of Trustees to use their good offices to ensure that the forthcoming NBA elections are conducted under conditions that guarantee credibility, transparency, and fairness.
The letter concluded with a stark warning: “The NBA cannot credibly demand fairness and justice in society while tolerating conduct that undermines fairness within its own ranks.”
“The admission has been made. The pattern is evident. The institutional damage is significant. The time for corrective action is now,” the SANs wrote.
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