2026 NBA Elections: Victory Over Integrity?
In what some Nigerian Lawyers have referred to as one of the most controversial elections in the history of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN emerged as the winner. The other two candidates for the office of President, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, candidates for other positions such as General Secretary, and many other Lawyers have cried foul. There were allegations of deliberate manipulation of the process, double voting and mass disenfranchisement, so much so that over 70% of eligible voters were unable to exercise their franchise. THISDAY LAWYER sought the views of some knowledgeable Bar leaders in a post-mortem analysis, as to what may have happened in the recently concluded polls, and the way forward. The 25th President of the NBA, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, SAN; Kunle Edun, SAN; Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN and Basil Udotai, share their in-depth observations of the process and proffer solutions, ranging from holding a rerun election for the over 70% of Lawyers who were disenfranchised, to the installation of the Badejo-Okusanya Executive, despite the flaws in their election, with a strong caveat that they undertake electoral reforms to forestall the reoccurrence of elections marred by irregularities
The Continued Relevance of the Nigerian Bar Association
Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, SAN
NBA as the Nigerian Bar Association will be referred to herein, is the umbrella body of all Nigerian Legal Practitioners. It is also a pressure group which ensures that all agencies and even Government itself, operate strictly within the bounds of the Rule of Law. Indeed, her motto is ‘Promoting the Rule of law’.
The NBA is not a creation of statute, but is recognised by name in several legislations including the Nigerian Constitution 1999. Such statutory mention does not make it a creature of the National Assembly, but it is a voluntary association that is created under Part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. It can therefore be sued or it can sue persons in Nigerian Courts through her Registered Trustees, of which I am a member of its Board of Trustees.
Since being called to the Nigerian Bar in 1980, I have been a member of this Association and have served in numerous capacities, ultimately emerging by the grace of God Almighty in the year 2010 at Ibadan Oyo State, as the 25th President of the NBA. I have since then served the legal profession in virtually every relevant capacity such as the LPPC, (the statutory body that screens and appoints legal practitioners who have applied for the coveted rank of SAN) the NJC (the body set up by the Nigerian Constitution to manage the affairs of the Nigerian Judiciary), Chairman for 6 years of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, the body statutorily mandated to discipline erring Nigerian Lawyers and legal practitioners, Chairman of the NBA All purposes Committee from 2014-2018 and membership of other numerous committees and interest groups in the legal profession, too numerous to detail here.
I have not set out part of my resume here above for reasons of self promotion or aggrandisement, but to show quite distinctively that I am a person interested not only in the affairs of the NBA, but in any thing that affects the legal profession in particular and Nigeria in general. I can therefore, safely declare myself a stakeholder.
In the past 10 years, the NBA has promoted some reforms, which has placed it in the invidious position or situation that it now finds itself. The reforms are (1) a switch in the mode of electing her national officers from the delegate and manual mode of election to the much disputed ‘universal suffrage’ whose excesses collapsed the first house in 1992 and left the Association comatose for 6 years until 1998 when Chief TJO Okpoko, SAN emerged as President and the beginning of the 2nd house of the NBA (2) the introduction of electronic or computer based system of voting thought to be transparent and capable of eliminating glitches and illegitimacy from the process.
Progressive elections since 2018, have posed serious credibility and legitimacy concerns. Firstly, the elections are heavily monetised, with hapless candidates being forced by ‘Barmen’ to spend humongous sums of money in the name of campaigns, secondly, the elections involve travelling to virtually all the Branches in the 36 States of Nigeria, and thirdly, other numerous inconvenient acts not relevant at this point in time but some of which will be alluded to as this write-up advances.
The 2026 NBA Elections
The 2026 national officers election by the peculiar arrangement in the NBA Constitution was zoned to the ‘West’ which means the old West and Mid-West regions of the Nigerian First Republic. It is this constitutional approval of zoning that brought about the emergence of ethnic or regional based pressure groups such as Otu Okwiwu and Eastern Bar Forum for the East, the Egbe Amofin and the Midwest Bar Forum for the West and the Arewa Lawyers Forum and the Middle Belt Lawyers forum for the North.
The mandate or objective of these Ad Hoc but relevant bodies, is ostensibly to ease the process of voting whenever the Presidency is zoned to them. They make their impact felt by endorsing their own candidates and selling same to other bodies, so that there can be unanimity and concord in the process.
Consequently, 2026 was no different as the constitution had effectively zoned the office of the President of the NBA to the West, whereupon Egbe conducted a screening and weeding process among her 4 candidates and came out with the name of Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN as its preferred candidate. Incidentally, the Midwest Bar Forum led by Ama Etuwewe, SAN rejected the Egbe choice and actively promoted her own candidate in the person of Mrs Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, a person under the Egbe umbrella but who later emerged as the President-elect in highly disputed circumstances.
I need to place on record here that I promoted and actively supported the candidature of Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN for very obvious reasons, which are as follows; 1. He was my General Secretary as the 25th President of the NBA and I could never have worked with a better GS. He was, and still is, hard working, industrious, honest, gentle mannered, brilliant, urbane and circumspect. A consummate Bar man. Consequently, I had no option, other than to support him when he shared with me his aspiration to be the 33rd President of the NBA.
Deficiencies of the Election
The deficiencies of the just recently concluded election, are legion, that is, too numerous to set out here. But, I will endeavour to set out the major defects in the last election.
Firstly, the candidates had complained about the ill preparedness and probably bad faith of the election body, the ECNBA. It is alleged to have prepared its voters register, not in line with the NBA Constitution. The election umpire also appointed untested and ill-prepared service providers, whose system for the provision of electronic voting crashed for the first 6 hours after voting commenced, until according to the election umpire, they moved to another server. So, who moved or authorised the movement to another server? This remains an unanswered sore point.
Secondly, and to me this is the most important, that although approximately 80,000 Lawyers were registered to vote, computer interference and/or unreliability allowed only 26, 600 persons to vote. The rest 70% willing and available voters, were schemed out of the voting exercise. Consequently, I had no hesitation in adjudging the outcome of the election as illegitimate, and lacking in the average constituents of a free, fair and credible election.
Thirdly, is the complaint that during the campaign period, high officials of the NBA actively campaigned at various NEC meetings for the candidacy of the Person who eventually emerged as President-elect.
Finally, for this purpose, is the frightful complaint that the votes had been predetermined and the system had been preset to achieve a constant margin of lead between the candidates, as configured by the powers that be who control the voting portal. Now, this last allegation must not be treated lightly. It strikes at the heart and soul of our leadership selection system. For over 6 to 8 years now, the rumours of election manipulation has been rife in the NBA system. Over the years, stakeholders have always demanded for a system that allows not only for post election audit, but for the security of the back end of the server that was used to conduct the election. Both matters appear to have been treated with great levity. I will not have any hesitation to, if I had the powers, to declare this election inconclusive and/or illegitimate.
The reason why NBA elections must be seen to be above board like Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, is that the NBA is the conscience of the larger society. Nigeria is on the throes of conducting its own general elections, in the year 2027. Having itself conducted such a visibly badly conducted election, will the NBA have the moral justification and standing to challenge the larger Nigerian Government, should, and this is only speculative, God forbid, that the general elections are marred by poor or indeed, fraudulent electoral practices?
That is why it is necessary at this stage, for all parties to acknowledge these deficiencies in the election that was conducted by the ECNBA. If nothing, a re-election should be conducted to accommodate the well over 70% disenfranchised Lawyers, who we were not allowed to vote at the election conducted last week.
If the NBA powers that be persist or persevere in its apparent, unshakable belief that it conducted a pristine election, then it will be difficult to predict the future, as this election has struck at the unity of a hitherto united Bar.
I must also say that I am appalled by the position of the President-elect, who views these complaints as merely a matter of perception. By treating these weighty complaints with such levity, it is clear that the that the President-elect has no intention to either disassociate herself from the system that brought her into office, or prepare herself to clean the Augean stable. I find myself unable to congratulate any member of this elected National Officers until Justice has been served, and the needful done to put the NBA on the right track.
Finally, it is necessary to state at this point in time that, because the NBA is not a statutory monopoly, dissatisfied members may, if pushed to the wall, move in droves to form an honest Association, that will push the ideals of good Legal Practice and honest political interaction as their prime objectives. It is not too late to save the day. Those in charge know what to do.
Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, SAN, 25th President of the Nigerian Bar Association
2026 NBA Elections, Glitches and All, Lessons Therefrom
Kunle Edun, SAN
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election held on the 18th of July, 2026 has since been concluded and Oyinkansola Badejo- Okusanya, SAN declared the winner of the contest for the office of the NBA President, having defeated Yemi Akangbe, SAN and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN with more than 33% of the total votes cast. It will be uncharitable to say that the election was not without hiccups. There were, and all the contestants for the respective officers were equally affected.
Politics of Adoption
The election was expected to be a challenging one for the NBA, because preceding the election, the Egbe Amofin and some other members of the socio-cultural organisation of Lawyers of Yoruba extraction had filed two separate lawsuits seeking judicial recognition of the Egbe Amofin-endorsed candidate, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN as the only candidate from the West, where the office was zoned to. The Midwest Bar Forum had earlier conceded the office to the South-West, to be contested by only Yoruba candidates. Not surprisingly, Badejo-Okusanya and Yemi Akangbe had earlier rejected the Egbe Amofin policy of endorsement.
The High Court, Ibadan joined the fray and surprisingly issued an injunction restraining the NBA from proceeding with the conduct of the election until the determination of the Motion on Notice. This Order would have stalled the NBA election, but for the intervention of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan that set aside the two injunctive orders of the Ibadan High Courts. The road was clear for the election to hold; or so, we thought. Earlier, the unsuccessful intervention of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation in issuing “directives” to the NBA and “directing” the postponement of the election. The NEC of the NBA in an emergency meeting called for that purpose, rejected the intervention of the Honourable AGF and resolved that the election should proceed as scheduled.
Integrity of the Electoral Process
Allegations kept on flying from everywhere, attacking the integrity of the electoral process. The Managing Director of the company that managed the portal was arrested by the SSS, and all his phones and equipment were seized by the SSS without any court order. This happened two days to the election. The election could not start at the exact time advertised, because of reported serial cyber-attacks of the voting portal and this compelled the migration to another portal and the voting time extended to meet up with the 24 hours voting duration.
All the Presidential candidates campaigned well for the election, and were equally endowed for the office of the President of the NBA. However, the three presidential candidates managed their emotions, conduct and social media commentaries differently, and this was quite telling.
Integrity of Candidates
A particular candidate for the office of the NBA President went round the 36 States to campaign, and visited most of the NBA Branches. This same candidate had a good number of the endorsements of senior Lawyers and Bar leaders. This same candidate campaigned without attacking the system and the NBA, throwing tantrums, insults and allegations everywhere, even when provoked. This same candidate decided not to publicly attack the NBA by appearing on prime-time TV stations defaming the NBA, that we all belong to. The same candidate continued advocating fora united Bar, and dissociated from all forms of sectional endorsements and schisms. The candidate did not forum-shop for convenient courts, that will issue order of injunction to truncate the election long before it even started. That same candidate was also reported not to have voted in the same election like the other two candidates, but did not pull down the house.
Technical Glitches
So far, there has been no evidence that the technical glitches were contrived, with a view to favouring any particular candidate. All the candidates and their supporters were affected on equal terms. It is a strongly held view that if the entire more than 80,000 registered NBA voters had voted, that same one candidate was sure to still win, even if the election is conducted 10 times over.
Let us be frank. What would a rational person expect in an election where there were 3 candidates: two males and one female? Do an analysis of the current demography of Lawyers in Nigeria. Within the last 6 weeks, I had cause to be invited by two different Faculties of law as a Guest speaker in their Law Week programs. The ratio of men to women in the two different halls I addressed was about 70% to 30%, in favour of female law students. More female Lawyers are now being admitted into the Bar every year, thus, out-numbering their menfolk. Even amongst the young Lawyers that want to practice law in chambers, we now see more of female Lawyers than male Lawyers.
The Gender Factor
The numbers are there. They don’t lie. And, in a contest of two male Lawyers against a female Lawyer who is from the largest NBA Branch (Lagos branch) that has more than 18,000 members, would it makes sense, considering all these variables, that the female candidate will still not win? Let us argue reasonably, honestly and with facts. In the NBA election of 2024 that ushered in Afam Osigwe, SAN as the 32nd President of the NBA, all the female candidates defeated their male counterparts, to the extent that in the current National Exco of 10 officers, 5 of them are females. Also, in the recently held election, the female candidates running for the various offices defeated all their male counterparts. No exception.
Conclusion
What we should be focusing on now is to push for a better electoral process that will address all the concerns raised by the candidates. No electoral system is perfect. So, we must keep improving and NBA electoral process has been improving since 2016 when we started the universal suffrage system.
Kunle Edun, SAN, Warri, Delta State
NBA Elections 2026: Congratulations to the Winners, but the Electoral Process Must be Questioned!
Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN
Background
For the first time in my life as a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), I was unable to exercise my right to vote in an NBA election. It was not for lack of trying. I made repeated and strenuous efforts to participate in the electoral process, but all proved futile.
From the commencement of voting, after several hours of reported technical glitch, the One-Time Password (OTP) required to complete the voting process simply did not arrive. After several unsuccessful attempts, the response on my device changed to the now-familiar refrain: “This site can’t be reached”. Sadly, that remained my experience, until voting eventually came to an end.
I was not alone, my son, who is also a Lawyer and eligible voter, suffered a similar unfortunate fate. Several colleagues and friends called me during the exercise, to complain of substantially similar difficulties. Some even changed from their mobile devices to laptops, which were reportedly suggested as a better means of accessing the voting platform, yet, their difficulties persisted.
Against this background, it would be difficult to dismiss these complaints as isolated incidents, or the frustrations of a few disgruntled voters. An electoral process that technically disenfranchises a significant number of eligible voters cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as wholly free, fair, credible and inclusive.
There was considerable enthusiasm surrounding this year’s NBA election. Many Lawyers were eager to participate because of the attention, mobilisation and expectations generated around the contest. It is therefore deeply unfortunate, that many who desired to exercise their franchise were allegedly prevented from doing so, not by their own choice, but by apparent failures in the electoral technology and process. Whoever insists that there was no problem with the process, in the face of the widespread complaints experienced and reported by members, would simply not be presenting a fair account of what transpired.
Congratulations
This is not, however, an invitation to diminish the victories of those who have been declared winners. I warmly congratulate Madam Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, the newly announced President of the Nigerian Bar Association, as well as all other candidates who emerged victorious in the election. I wish them a successful tenure and sincerely hope that their leadership will strengthen the Bar, defend the rule of law and advance the welfare and professional interests of Nigerian Lawyers.
Legitimate Issues Mustn’t be Ignored
Indeed, I believe Madam Badejo-Okusanya could still have won resoundingly, even without the technical glitches that unfortunately cast a shadow over the process. That is precisely why the issues arising from the election, should not be ignored or swept under the carpet. The legitimacy of leadership is strengthened, not weakened, when legitimate questions surrounding the process that produced it are openly acknowledged and addressed.
The starting point for the new NBA leadership should therefore, be a candid interrogation of the electoral process through which it emerged. There is a useful lesson from Nigeria’s democratic history. When the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua emerged victorious in the controversial 2007 general election, he openly acknowledged that the electoral process that brought him into office was flawed and thereafter, initiated electoral reforms. That acknowledgment did not diminish his office; rather, it demonstrated an important willingness to confront deficiencies in the system.
The incoming NBA leadership should demonstrate similar institutional courage. Madam Oyin Badejo-Okusanya owes the NBA constituency a responsibility to acknowledge the genuine complaints arising from this election, and to support a transparent review of what went wrong. The relevant electoral authorities of the Association should provide clear answers: Why did so many eligible voters reportedly experience difficulties receiving OTPs? Why were members confronted with inaccessible platforms and error messages? What was the extent of voter disenfranchisement caused by these technical failures? Were adequate contingency measures in place? And, most importantly, what concrete reforms will ensure that these failures are never repeated?
These questions, should not be treated as partisan attacks against the winners. They are institutional questions, that go directly to the integrity of the Nigerian Bar Association. As Lawyers, we routinely demand credible elections, transparency and accountability from the Independent National Electoral Commission and other public institutions. The NBA cannot demand from others, a standard that it is unwilling to apply rigorously to itself.
The Association must therefore, undertake a comprehensive post-election audit and review of the 2026 electoral process. The findings should be made available to members, identified technological and administrative failures should be addressed, and appropriate safeguards must be instituted well ahead of the next election. Electronic voting should expand participation, not become an instrument however unintended, to disenfranchise.
I congratulate the winners once again, and wish them well. But, let the winners note this – an election in which a Presidential candidate, many of my colleagues, my son and persons like me who were ready, willing and eligible to vote could not exercise their franchise because of reported technical failures, raises serious questions about the inclusiveness, credibility and fairness of that process.
I am saying so clearly.
The NBA must learn from this experience, and correct its shortcomings before the next election.
The time to start is NOW!
Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN Legal Practitioner/Policy Analyst
ECNBA and 2026 NBA Elections
Basil Udotai
The ECNBA says its election platform suffered a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack” and nonetheless, proceeded with the election.
According to the ECNBA, the attack was:
“…a deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack by external actors, clearly intended to disrupt, sabotage, and undermine the integrity of the 2026 NBA National Electoral Process”.
If so, there are a few questions I’d like to ask in the interest of cybersecurity, and for the benefit of young Lawyers coming into this noble profession.
1. Who investigated the systems and concluded that the integrity of the election remained intact?
2. Was a forensic assessment conducted before voting resumed?
3. Who made the decision that the platform was sufficiently secure to proceed – and on what basis?
4. Were the relevant cyber incident reporting and investigative processes prescribed under the Nigerian Cybercrime Act, activated where applicable?
To be clear, these are not allegations that the election was compromised. Modern election systems are targeted all the time, and are expected to withstand cyberattacks.
But, once an election authority publicly announces an attack of this nature, members are entitled to understand the basis upon which it concluded that the election could safely proceed.
Now imagine this happened during the 2027 General Elections: suppose INEC announced that its electoral systems and infrastructure had been subjected to a deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack by external actors, clearly intended to disrupt, sabotage, and undermine the integrity of the electoral process…and nonetheless resumed voting? Would Nigerians not ask these same questions? Would the NBA itself, not insist on transparency, forensic accountability and clear assurances that the integrity of the election had not been compromised?
If those are the standards we would rightly demand of INEC, should they not also be the standards we demand of ourselves?
Conclusion
It is my hope that the ECNBA will address these questions in its election report, thereby reinforcing confidence in the integrity and legitimacy of this election.
In the meantime, congratulations to all those elected to serve our Bar – the Biggest in Africa! And, to those who were not successful this time, well done on your campaigns. We live to run another day.
Basil Udotai, Legal Practitioner; IT Expert, Abuja
