Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kunle Edun, SAN, a former National Publicity Secretary and former National Welfare Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, has questioned the legal basis of the Attorney General of the Federation’s directives on the NBA election, stating that he is “at a loss in trying to understand some of the directives in the said statement, particularly the call for suspension of the election,” and asserting that only the NBA Trustees and the National Executive Council (NEC) have the authority to call for or suspend the election under the NBA Constitution.
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Edun, who has served on the NBA NEC for several years and has twice been a member of the General Council of the Bar, published his position after the AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, issued comprehensive directions accepting the Olanipekun Committee’s recommendations to disband the ECNBA, disengage the election service providers, postpone the election from July to August 2026 or later, and constitute an Independent Electoral Oversight Committee.
Edun opened by noting an irregularity in the form of the AGF’s statement itself.
“I have read the statement said to have emanated from the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and appeared to have been signed by the respected silk himself. I state this advisedly because the written statement is not on the official letterhead of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation. I would not know why it is so,” Edun stated.
The observation, while seemingly procedural, raises a substantive question about the official status of the document. A directive issued on the official letterhead of the AGF’s office carries the imprimatur of the office and is clearly identifiable as an official act. A document that is not on the official letterhead, however substantive its content, leaves open the question of whether it constitutes an official directive of the Chief Law Officer of the Federation or a personal intervention by the individual who occupies the office.
Edun’s central challenge was directed at the AGF’s authority to direct the postponement of the NBA election.
“I know for a fact that the NBA Trustees and the NEC of the NBA are the only bodies, in my humble opinion, that can call for or suspend the election of the NBA,” Edun stated.
This position is grounded in the NBA Constitution, which vests the governance of the association in its own organs: the NEC, the Board of Trustees, and the General Council of the Bar. The election of national officers is conducted pursuant to the NBA Constitution and the rules made thereunder. The AGF, while recognised as the Official Leader of the Nigerian Bar, does not have a constitutional role in the internal governance of the NBA that would empower him to unilaterally direct the postponement of an election, the disbandment of an electoral committee, or the replacement of service providers chosen by the association’s own organs.
Edun acknowledged that in extreme circumstances, the General Council of the Bar may step in, but stated firmly that the conditions for such intervention do not exist in the present case.
“In an extreme case, the GCB may step in, but frankly, the conditions that will allow the GCB to step in and take over the management of the NBA are completely lacking in the present circumstance,” Edun stated.
He noted the composition of the GCB to underscore that it is not a body controlled by the AGF alone: “The GCB is constituted by the HAGF, all the AGs of States and 20 other lawyers representing the NBA. I am a member of the current GCB.”
The implication is that even if the GCB were to intervene, such intervention would require the collective action of all its members, not a unilateral directive from the AGF.
Edun was careful to distinguish between his appreciation for the AGF’s peacemaking efforts and his objection to the specific directives issued.
“Whilst I commend the peaceful efforts of the respected HAGF and the respected NBA Past Presidents in ensuring that the NBA election is held without any rancour and calling on all the candidates to act honourably as the true bar men that they are, I am constrained to say that I am at a loss in trying to understand some of the directives in the said statement, particularly the call for suspension of the election,” Edun stated.
The formulation is significant. Edun did not question the AGF’s good intentions or the legitimacy of his concern about the NBA’s internal disputes. He did not challenge the findings of the Olanipekun Committee regarding the partisanship of the NBA President, the deficiencies of the service providers, or the irregularities in the ECNBA’s appointment. What he challenged was the constitutional power of the AGF to convert those findings into binding directives that override the authority of the NBA’s own governing organs.
Edun concluded with a call for institutional stability and adherence to the NBA’s own constitutional framework.
“Election will come and go but the NBA must remain as a united body for the legal profession. I urge all of us to abide the provisions of our laws and rules guiding our elections. We must not do anything that will put the NBA and the legal profession in bad light before Nigerians as we look forward to the 2027 General Elections,” Edun stated.
Edun’s intervention raises a fundamental constitutional question that goes beyond the immediate NBA election controversy: what is the legal relationship between the Attorney General of the Federation, in his capacity as Official Leader of the Nigerian Bar, and the Nigerian Bar Association as an autonomous professional body governed by its own constitution?
The AGF’s intervention was premised on his role as “the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and the Official Leader of the Nigerian Bar.” The Olanipekun Committee was constituted at a meeting he convened and presided over. The directives were issued by him personally, addressed to the NBA and its organs.
Edun’s position is that however well-intentioned and however sound the committee’s findings may be, the AGF’s directives cannot override the authority that the NBA Constitution vests in the NBA’s own organs. The Trustees and the NEC are the bodies empowered to make decisions about the association’s elections. The AGF can recommend, mediate, and broker settlement, but he cannot direct.
The question is whether the NBA’s organs will treat the AGF’s directions as binding instructions that must be implemented, as recommendations that carry moral authority but not constitutional force, or as an overreach that should be respectfully declined. The answer to that question will determine not only the immediate future of the 2026 NBA election but the long-term balance of power between the AGF’s office and the NBA’s institutional autonomy.
The statement was issued by Kunle Edun, SAN, former National Publicity Secretary, former National Welfare Secretary, and member of the General Council of the Bar.
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