Reactions have continued to trail the closing events of the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, following a heated exchange over the 2026 NBA national election and a separate warning by the newly inaugurated President of the Association against lawyers who abuse colleagues on social media.
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At the centre of the first controversy were Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, the immediate past and 32nd President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, a presidential candidate and first runner-up in the 2026 NBA national election.
During Thursday’s Annual General Meeting, Akangbe raised concerns over the conduct of the election and called for reforms capable of restoring greater confidence in future NBA electoral processes.
Akangbe’s intervention focused particularly on the ability of candidates and members to independently verify or audit the electronic voting process. He argued that the Association should put mechanisms in place that would allow participants to interrogate and independently confirm critical aspects of future elections rather than merely relying on the declaration of results.
Responding from the podium, Osigwe rejected the suggestion that the difficulties surrounding the election could simply be placed at the doorstep of the NBA leadership or the electoral machinery.
The immediate past President argued that some decisions and positions taken by the presidential candidates themselves during the electoral process, including issues surrounding the delivery of one-time passwords to voters, contributed to some of the challenges subsequently complained about.
The exchange became animated, with Osigwe speaking forcefully and using emphatic gestures while defending the process and responding to the criticisms raised.
His tone, gestures, animated body language and sharp exchanges from the podium drew the attention of lawyers in the hall and later generated wider commentary among practitioners, particularly because the episode came at the very end of his two-year tenure as NBA President. Some described it as an unexpected “last dance” from an outgoing President, while others expressed surprise at the intensity of the exchange. As the elders say, no matter how hot the anger, it cannot cook the yam.
@thenigerialawyer“Did You Tell Your Supporters That You People Took That Stand?” — Osigwe Challenges Akangbe, Akinboro Over OTP Decision At NBA AGM♬ original sound – TheNigeriaLawyer
Some lawyers commenting on the episode questioned whether a departing President should have responded to criticism in such an animated manner, arguing that the final AGM offered an opportunity for institutional reflection on concerns raised about the election rather than a personalised exchange.
Others maintained that Osigwe was entitled to defend the record of his administration and explain circumstances which, in his view, had been omitted from criticisms of the electoral process.
The disagreement centres on an election that produced Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Attention shifted to Badejo-Okusanya on Friday following her inauguration and her declaration that her administration would take action against lawyers who use abusive and insulting language against fellow practitioners on social media.
The newly inaugurated NBA President warned that such conduct could expose lawyers to disciplinary proceedings.
“Such lawyers will be subjected to public proceedings for bringing us all into disrepute in the eyes of the public,” Badejo-Okusanya said.
She followed the warning with a direct declaration: “So, we’re coming after you.”
The statement has generated another debate within sections of the legal profession, with some lawyers asking the new administration to clearly distinguish between legitimate criticism, robust professional disagreement and conduct that amounts to abuse capable of attracting disciplinary consequences.
The concern is particularly significant where comments concern NBA national officers, elected Bar leaders, public office holders or lawyers acting on matters of legitimate professional and public interest.
Questions have also arisen over the process through which complaints arising from social-media statements would be handled and the safeguards that would ensure that disciplinary mechanisms are not used to suppress legitimate criticism of NBA leadership.
Lawyers raising those concerns have stressed the importance of fair hearing and established disciplinary procedures, maintaining that no NBA administration should simultaneously determine what constitutes offensive criticism, initiate proceedings against a critic and effectively decide the outcome.
The debate comes against Badejo-Okusanya’s own promise that her administration would be anchored on “facts, fairness, discipline and boldness.”
She also expressly invited members of the Association to scrutinise the performance of her administration rather than give it unquestioning support.
“I don’t ask you for blind faith. I ask you to hold us to account,” she declared in her inaugural address.
The two developments have consequently presented the new NBA leadership with an early test: reconciling its stated determination to enforce professional discipline with its equally stated commitment to accountability, openness and the right of members to question the conduct of their elected leaders.
For Osigwe, meanwhile, the AGM exchange with Akangbe has become one of the final public moments of his presidency, leaving lawyers to continue debating not only the substance of the concerns surrounding the 2026 election but also the manner in which the outgoing leadership responded to them.
With Badejo-Okusanya now formally in office, attention is expected to turn to whether her administration will pursue electoral reforms arising from the controversies of 2026 and how it will define and implement its proposed response to abusive conduct by lawyers online without interfering with legitimate criticism and professional debate.
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