*Directs Dissolution of ECNBA, Replacement of Mikrodigital Connect and Thanelinc, Postponement of NBA Election, Compulsory Use of NIN, and Constitution of Independent Electoral Oversight Committee
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The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN, has issued comprehensive directions on the crisis engulfing the Nigerian Bar Association ahead of its 2026 national elections, accepting in full the findings and recommendations of the Olanipekun Committee that the allegations of bias, prejudice, partiality, and partisanship against the NBA leadership are “well-founded,” directing that the ECNBA be disbanded, that service providers Mikrodigital Connect and Thanelinc Nigeria Limited be disengaged, that the election be postponed from July to August 2026 or later, that the National Identification Number (NIN) be made compulsory for voter authentication, that an Independent Electoral Oversight and Audit Committee be constituted, that a new voter register be compiled from branch level, and that all pending court cases be withdrawn.
The directions were contained in a document titled “Directions and Outcomes of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation Prince Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN on the Report of the 3-Man Committee Set Up to Look into Causes of the Present Conflicts within the Nigerian Bar Association, Particularly on the Way Forward in Matters Relating to the Upcoming 2026 Elections of National Officers of the Nigerian Bar Association.”
The AGF stated that he took cognisance of two separate suits filed by parties against the NBA and other stakeholders before the High Court of Oyo State, Ibadan Judicial Division, in respect of issues relating to the NBA general elections. Ex parte orders of injunction had been granted, appeals were pending before the Court of Appeal, and the lower courts had stayed proceedings.
When the matter came before the Court of Appeal on June 1, 2026, the AGF instructed counsel representing his office to seek a short adjournment to enable him, “in my capacity as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and the Official Leader of the Nigerian Bar, broker an amicable settlement among the parties.” The Court of Appeal adjourned the matter to June 15, 2026. In total, three adjournments were sought and granted.
On June 11, 2026, the AGF convened a meeting at his Conference Room, presiding personally. All past NBA Presidents from 1998 to date attended, with the exception of Chief T.J.O. Okpoko, OON, SAN. Those present included O.C.J. Okocha, OFR, SAN; Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, OFR, SAN; Chief Bayo Ojo, CON, SAN (online); Prince Lanke Odogiyon; Dr Olisa Agbakoba, OON, SAN; Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, SAN, FCIArb; Okechukwu Wali, OON, SAN (online); Augustine Alegeh, SAN; Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, OON, SAN; Paul Usoro, SAN, FCIArb; the current NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN; and immediate past President Yakubu C. Maikyau, SAN.
The AGF also received representations from counsel to the various parties in the pending suits, including Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, and Mrs Toyin Basorun, SAN, for the two sets of claimants; counsel to Egbe Amofin; and Babatunde Ogala, SAN, Abdul Mohammed Rafindadi, SAN, Lanre Akinsola, SAN, and Anthony Malik, SAN, respectively for the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA, the NBA President, and the Chairman/Members of the ECNBA.
At the meeting, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, counsel to the NBA’s Incorporated Trustees, proposed the establishment of a committee to reconcile the parties. The proposal was accepted and a three-member committee was constituted: Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, SAN (Chairman), Prince Lanke Odogiyon, and Paul Usoro, SAN, FCIArb.
The committee’s mandate was to examine the causes of the present conflicts within the NBA leading to the institution of the referenced cases and to make appropriate recommendations on the way forward.
The committee held its inaugural meeting via Zoom on June 13, 2026, called for memoranda, and received submissions from Aare Muyiwa Akinboro, SAN; Egbe Amofin O’odua (with an addendum); Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN; Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN; and the Chairman of the ECNBA, Aham Ejelam, SAN.
The committee was unable to interface with NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, or presidential candidate Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN.
The committee produced two reports: a majority report signed by the Chairman and Prince Odogiyon, and a minority report by Paul Usoro, SAN.
The memoranda submitted to the committee revealed overlapping complaints from multiple stakeholders.
Aare Akinboro, SAN, complained of the unconstitutional appointment of ECNBA members by the President instead of the NEC; electoral manipulation and loss of confidence in electronic voting; failure to implement agreed electoral safeguards; serious reservations about the service providers; concerns about external influence; and the partisanship of the NBA President.
Egbe Amofin O’odua complained of attempts to frustrate its zoning and consensus arrangement; the partisanship of the NBA President; protest against the ECNBA constitution; constitutional vacuum and electoral impasse; disregard of court orders; concerns regarding Mikrodigital Connect; and that all letters and memoranda sent to NBA leadership, the Body of Benchers, and the Board of Trustees were “neither acknowledged nor responded to.”
Akangbe, SAN, complained of the constitutional infirmity of the ECNBA’s appointment; the procurement of service providers without demonstrable fitness; the abandonment of agreed authentication safeguards; “an apparent tendency to work backwards from a predetermined answer to a convenient question”; and the partisan conduct of the NBA President.
Both Akinboro and Akangbe cited specific instances of alleged partisanship: distribution of a particular candidate’s campaign materials at the 2025 NBA Annual General Conference Health Walk; prominent display of the same candidate’s images on billboards at the “UNBArred Party”; the NBA President’s public declaration at the Maiduguri NEC meeting that he “cannot be neutral”; the President’s statement at an NBA-SPIDEL event urging lawyers to “trust a woman with the leadership of the NBA”; and credible reports that the President personally called members, including Senior Advocates, to solicit support for his preferred candidate.
The Olanipekun Committee made extensive findings which the AGF accepted.
On the NBA President’s partisanship, the committee found that “the perception that he is partisan, as well as the accusation to that effect, is not without substantial foundation.” The committee stated that the President “should not have come out openly to say that he was not going to be neutral in the election exercise; he should not have allowed the roll-up banners or photographs of any candidate to be displayed at any of the NBA functions.”
The committee noted that the President later stated he would not vote, “apparently seeking to retract his earlier statement,” but found that “his earlier statement had not only gone viral but had also registered in the minds and psyche of several people. Furthermore, the rightly perceived campaigns in favour of a particular candidate could not, and can no longer, be withdrawn.”
The committee found that the two male presidential candidates’ complaints of bias and prejudice had merit: “Messrs. Akinboro and Akangbe are of the strong view that the leadership of the NBA has demonstrated open bias and prejudice against them, while displaying open support for another candidate. The Committee finds merit in their complaints.”
On the ECNBA’s appointment, the committee found that “the Committee has no evidence that the NEC made the appointment of the ECNBA members. What was presented before the Committee was that the President merely rolled out the names of the ECNBA members at the NEC meeting.”
On the service providers, the committee found that “the reservations expressed by Messrs. Akinboro and Akangbe about the integrity, expertise, professionalism and capability of the service providers are well-founded.”
The committee’s findings on Mikrodigital Connect were particularly detailed:
The entity is “a mere business name registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in 2019, with one Shamsuddeen Haruna as its sole proprietor.” Its nature of business is described simply as “Information Service Activities.” There is “no information as to its experience, personnel, competencies, track record and jobs executed in the past.” There is “no evidence that the entity has previously handled a task similar to managing the NBA election.”
Most damningly, the entity “which ought to have commenced payment of its Annual Returns to the Corporate Affairs Commission since 2020, failed to do so from its inception until after its appointment as a service provider. Due diligence revealed that it hurriedly paid the Annual Returns for 6 years (2020-2025) in arrears between 22:02 on 31st May, 2026 and 12:30 on 1st June, 2026.”
Furthermore, Shamsuddeen Haruna, during questioning by Akangbe SAN’s consultant during the bid defence, “confirmed having been part of the 2024 election of the NBA and in possession of the data of over 70,000 lawyers. When questioned further as to why he retains such data, he stated that he has not been disengaged.”
The AGF described both service providers as “glorified one-man businesses (not being a registered limited liability company with requisite experience)” that “should not conduct our NBA elections.”
The AGF issued the following directions, accepting the committee’s recommendations:
First, all pending court cases relating to the NBA elections must be withdrawn forthwith. The AGF “directs all parties to forthwith sheath their swords and withdraw all actions.”
Second, the ECNBA is to be disbanded. While the AGF noted that the committee “respects the integrity of the ECNBA Chairman,” the findings of bias by the appointing authority and the non-compliance with the NBA Constitution regarding the appointment rendered the committee’s continued operation untenable. The AGF directed that “in future, serving Presidents of the Nigerian Bar Association be circumspect when displaying their preferences for candidates vis-a-vis elective offices during their tenure.”
Third, the service providers Mikrodigital Connect and Thanelinc Nigeria Limited are to be disengaged forthwith. The AGF directed that “new NBA service providers, with a track record of performance in electronic or digital voting for large organisations, be appointed to conduct the 2026 elections.”
Fourth, the NBA election is to be postponed from July 2026 “to a feasible time in August 2026 or to any time soon thereafter.”
Fifth, an Independent Electoral Oversight and Audit Committee is to be constituted to conduct the 2026 elections.
Sixth, Access Bank, being the bank to which practising fees are paid and which has details of all members who have paid, should make available to the Independent Electoral Oversight Committee the list of members who have paid their practising fees.
Seventh, a new register of eligible voters is to be compiled starting from branch level, from where the list shall be forwarded to the independent electoral commission.
Eighth, telephone numbers combined with the NIN are to be compulsorily used to clear eligible voters, “bearing in mind the clear provisions of the law on the use of NIN, and the serial abuse of the Supreme Court Enrolment Number in the past.”
Ninth, mobile phone SMS is to be used to receive voter authentication instead of email, “which has been proven susceptible to manipulation.”
Tenth, all candidates should be involved in the choice of service providers.
Eleventh, the AGF accepted the recommendation that the NBA Constitution be recalibrated on succession procedures, stating that “on no account should anyone who has not held any position with proven record of success or commendation at the Branch, Sectional or National level be allowed to contest for any National office, particularly the NBA Presidency.”
Twelfth, on the zoning and micro-zoning arrangement, the AGF stated that “a more solid arrangement will be required to implement same” and that “the arrangement cannot be implemented in this election as all contestants have gone too far in their campaigns.” However, “in future elections, NBA zoning and micro-zoning arrangement, where in place, should be respected and implemented.”
Thirteenth, on the gender question, the AGF stated that “the issue of gender is not a relevant qualifying factor for leadership in the legal profession” and that “everybody, regardless of gender, is qualified to contest for any position or office of the Nigerian Bar Association once the criteria set out are met.”
The committee concluded with a pointed observation: “The motto of the NBA is ‘promoting the rule of law’. The manner in which the NBA conducts its elections and affairs should serve as a litmus test for the government and as a threshold for all to follow. The Committee finds that it would be hypocritical of lawyers generally to mount criticisms of governments, at both the federal and state levels, when they cannot put their own house in order.”
The AGF thanked the Justices of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, for affording him the opportunity to intervene and thanked all stakeholders for their participation.
The directions were signed by Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN, Honourable Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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