The leadership crisis in the Nigerian Bar Association, Owerri Branch, deepened on Saturday when Senior Advocates of Nigeria, former Branch Chairmen, senior lawyers and members were prevented from entering the NBA Owerri Bar Centre for a requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting.
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The gate to the Magistrates’ Court premises in which the Bar Centre stands was found padlocked. About eighteen police officers were deployed around it. The meeting did not hold.
The meeting had been fixed for Saturday, 10 October 2026, and was called by members amid the continuing dispute over the administration of the Branch and allegations concerning the management of Branch funds under the Chairman, Dr. Mazi Udegbulem.
In his account of the incident, the former Secretary of the Branch, Mr. Chinedu Agu, said approximately eighteen police officers were deployed around the Magistrates’ Court premises where the Bar Centre is located, and that the entrance to the premises was locked, making it impossible for the members who had gathered to gain access.
Among those who turned up were Senior Advocates of Nigeria, former Chairmen and Secretaries of the Branch, other senior members of the Bar, and members who had supported the requisition.
Members who arrived found the court gate secured with a padlock, while the security personnel who ordinarily man the entrance were reportedly absent.
Those who gathered remained outside the locked premises despite the police presence, demanding to know why they could not gain access to the facility.
The development followed what Mr. Agu described as an earlier oral directive reportedly issued by the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Imo State, His Worship Nneoma Chika Ezerioha, to the security personnel guarding the Magistrates’ Court premises.
According to the account, the Chief Registrar was said to have instructed the security personnel on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, not to permit access to the premises at weekends.
Mr. Agu further said the police presence came against the backdrop of a directive reportedly issued by the Commissioner of Police a day earlier that is, on Friday, 9 October.
He alleged that the events raised questions about whether state institutions were being used to obstruct the gathering, and referred to allegations that the Branch Chairman had enlisted the involvement of the Imo State Police Command and the office of the Chief Registrar. Those allegations were not independently established in the account made available.
The dispute arises from the continuing leadership crisis in NBA Owerri and allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement of Branch funds levelled against Dr. Udegbulem.
Against that background, 183 financially up-to-date members of the Branch were said to have signed a requisition calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting.
The requisition was formally transmitted to the Chairman on 2 October 2026.
According to Mr. Agu’s account, the members resorted to fixing the meeting themselves after Dr. Udegbulem allegedly failed to direct the Branch Secretary to convene it within the stipulated seven-day period.
The requisitionists said they acted pursuant to Article 11(5) of the Uniform Bye-Law, on which they relied in scheduling the meeting for 10 October.
Despite the inability to access the Bar Centre, members remained outside the premises, with senior lawyers and former leaders of the Branch addressing those gathered.
A former Chairman of NBA Owerri Branch, Mr. Dec Madu, who addressed the lawyers at the scene, commended members for what he described as their courage, steadfastness and commitment to accountability.
Mr. Madu then announced that the Extraordinary General Meeting would no longer hold that Saturday, and had been rescheduled for Thursday, 15 October 2026.
Journalists present at the premises interviewed some of the lawyers and documented the situation before the gathering dispersed.
Mr. Agu described the development as unprecedented, arguing that the sight of Senior Advocates, former Branch Chairmen and other lawyers standing outside a locked Bar Centre raised wider questions about accountability and associational rights within the legal profession.
He maintained that the controversy went beyond the personalities involved and touched on the principles of institutional accountability and the rule of law.
The incident has added a further dimension to the dispute — over the right of members to convene meetings under the Branch’s rules, over access to the Bar Centre, and over the circumstances in which security agencies or judicial administrative authorities may restrict access to court premises housing an NBA facility.
The crisis remains unresolved, with attention turning to whether the rescheduled meeting will proceed and how the Branch leadership, the judicial authorities and the security agencies will respond.
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