Says He Cannot Confirm AGF’s Directive Came from Fagbemi, Describes Document as “Not on the Letterhead,” Says Some Believe It May Be “AI Simulated”
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NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has categorically denied supporting any particular candidate in the 2026 NBA presidential election, revealing that all three presidential candidates individually approached him seeking his support, that he declined to endorse any of them, and that his widely criticised statement about not being neutral was simply a declaration that he intended to exercise his democratic right to vote for candidates of his choice across all 10 national offices being contested, not an endorsement of any specific candidate.
Osigwe made the disclosures during an extensive interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme with Seun Okinbaloye, in which he also revealed that a former Attorney General of Oyo State threatened him that if he refused to hand over to their preferred candidate, he would be “the last president of a United NBA,” questioned whether the AGF’s directive actually emanated from Fagbemi, described the July 18 election date as “sacrosanct,” and announced that he would invite international observers to monitor the election.
The NBA President addressed directly the allegation that has been central to the ECNBA controversy: that he has a preferred candidate and has used his office to advance that candidate’s interests.
“The three persons running for office each approached me to support them,” Osigwe disclosed.
When pressed on who he was supporting, Osigwe responded: “No, I’m not supporting any person.”
He then explained the statement that had generated the controversy: “I made a statement which they blew out of proportion. At our NEC meeting in Maiduguri, I said that there’s nothing in the NBA constitution that prevents me or any of the other national officers from voting. That on election day, I will not be neutral. That I’ll vote for candidates of my choice. There are 10 national officers to be elected, to be voted for on election day.”
“And they took it and said, ‘Oh, I said I’m not going to be neutral.’ I never mentioned any name. I said I was going to cast vote for persons. Of course, if I’m going to vote, that means I have to vote for people. I have to choose among contending persons,” Osigwe stated.
He challenged his critics directly: “The question anybody should ask: have I abused my office to make it difficult for any person to campaign or to aid another person? The answer is absolutely no. The NBA constitution makes the ECNBA independent. I’ve not interfered with what they’ve been doing. I’ve had nothing to do with them.”
Osigwe disclosed for the first time on national television that he had been personally threatened before the election controversy began.
“Prior to this time, a former Attorney General of Oyo State, whose name I don’t want to mention on air, had come to me in January to tell me that he came with a message. That if me as president refuses to hand over to their preferred candidate, that I would be the last president of a United NBA. That they will plunge NBA into crisis and there will be no election,” Osigwe revealed.
“So, when the lawsuits and injunctions were filed and injunctions granted, it became obvious that it was his threat because it was not a message, it was a threat. He told me that they would make sure that election never held,” the NBA President stated.
“And I said to him, as long as there are more than one candidate, lawyers would be entitled to vote for a candidate of their choice. That no person can force us to accept one person,” Osigwe stated.
Osigwe cast significant doubt on the authenticity of the AGF’s directives.
“As I sit here this evening, I cannot for certain say that the AGF gave that advice. And I’ll be shocked if he did,” Osigwe stated.
“The letter that circulated, or the advice or the directive as it was called, that circulated on social media was not on the letterhead of the Attorney General of the Federation, even though it bears what appears to be the Attorney General of the Federation’s signature, but it’s not on his letterhead, and there was no direct communication to the NBA,” the NBA President stated.
He disclosed that there had been no official communication from the AGF to the NBA: “He has not reached out. No official communication. No mail, nothing.”
“Some persons are of the view that that may be an AI simulated letter. And because of its ability to affect our electoral process, we had to react to it out of abundance of caution, to avoid people being misled that the election would no longer take place,” Osigwe stated.
Osigwe rejected the premise that the AGF has authority to issue directives to the NBA.
“The attorney general would appear not to have any power under the law, under our constitution, to issue directives which sounded like decrees to us. Dissolve the electoral committee, remove the service provider, among so many other directives. We thought that those were not the essence of the meeting,” Osigwe stated.
“We are not a department in the office of the attorney general. If there are issues about our election, they have to be resolved in accordance with the provisions of our constitution,” the NBA President stated.
He said the AGF’s original intervention was for amicable settlement, not decree-making: “If there were such settlements reached, he would reconvene the meeting and all of us would look at it and if we agreed, we would sign them and it would be filed as terms of settlement, not as an order as if emanating from a headmaster to his students on what to do.”
“We respect the attorney general as the official head of the bar, but respectfully we disagree if he proposes to have power to issue such directives,” Osigwe stated.
Osigwe declared the election date immovable.
“The electoral committee has proposed the 18th of July for the election. And barring any unforeseen circumstances, the election will proceed as scheduled. And if that date is to change, it can only be by that body or by the NEC. It is only the National Executive Council of the NBA that can dissolve the ECNBA or give directives. Absent that, no authority outside of the bar can do that,” Osigwe stated.
In a significant disclosure, Osigwe announced that the NBA would invite international observers to monitor the election.
“We are going to invite the international community to monitor that election. I’m signing those letters tomorrow to send them to the embassies. I’m also alerting them to possible attempts to undemocratically subvert the NBA. And that they should take interest,” Osigwe stated.
Osigwe traced the crisis to two lawsuits filed before the High Court of Oyo State.
The first was filed by Egbe Amofin O’odua, contending that since the NBA presidency was zoned to the South-West and they had chosen their preferred candidate, the court should restrain the ECNBA from accepting any other candidate. The court granted the injunction.
“We opposed that suit on the ground that it negates the democratic principles for which NBA stands. Under the NBA Constitution, it is a ground for disqualification for any forum, branch, or section of the NBA to endorse a candidate. We thought that a court could not rightly order the electoral committee to only accept nomination for one person,” Osigwe stated.
The second suit was filed by Ibrahim Lawal and others claiming the ECNBA was improperly constituted. They obtained an injunction restraining the ECNBA from operating.
Osigwe stated that both orders had lapsed under the Oyo State High Court rules because they were not extended by the court and no applications were filed to extend them.
Osigwe defended the ECNBA’s appointment of service providers, including Mikrodigital Connect, which the Olanipekun Committee had described as “a mere business name” without a track record.
“The major argument is that they appointed as one of the service providers an enterprise. And my question is: many of the reputable Senior Advocates we have in Nigeria run sole proprietorships. Has the fact that they run enterprises or sole proprietorships rubbed off on their competence and integrity? Does the fact of not being a limited liability company stop you from doing good work?” Osigwe asked.
Osigwe addressed the broader concern that the NBA is being used as a laboratory for political experimentation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Politicians will be better served by having an NBA whose soul is not controlled by politics, whose soul is controlled by right, due process of law, obedience and fidelity to the rule of law and nothing else. No person, no politician should strive to put the NBA in his back pocket,” Osigwe stated.
He described the internal dynamics candidly: “Certain persons feel that their word must be law, that if it is not their way, if they can’t have it their way, then let the house burn down.”
Osigwe also commented on the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) scandal, expressing concern about the systemic failure it revealed.
“It worries me that a fictitious agency is able to apply and get office accommodation at the Federal Secretariat. Is able to apply and get permission to employ staff. And it is alleged also got budgetary allocation to it. If it was fake and is able to do this, then it speaks volumes about the lack of supervision and scrutiny in some of our processes,” Osigwe stated.
“If these facts are taken as true, it should worry all of us and calls for a much better and broader investigation than was carried out by the police. Who knows what other fake entity may have been operating in plain sight and feeding fat on our commonwealth? As a nation, it does not portray us in a good light,” the NBA President stated.
Osigwe addressed the state police debate, supporting the principle of decentralisation but cautioning about implementation challenges.
He emphasised that structures alone are insufficient without the infrastructure to make them effective, noting that police stations in some parts of the country lack basic facilities including electricity and computers, making the tracking of criminals across jurisdictions virtually impossible.
“We must work on not just setting up structures but putting in the real things that make them viable and effective,” Osigwe stated.
The interview was broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme. Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, is the President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
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