The 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Elections will go down in history as one of the fiercest contests in the association’s recent history.

THE BUILD-UP

There is no gainsaying that the build-up to the elections was characterized by high stakes politicking and intrigues that tested the wits and resolve of many stakeholders.

Predictably, the appointment of members of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) in November 2025 set the tone for the elections. This is notwithstanding that some aspirants had been criss-crossing the over 135 branches of the association in the amorphous name of “consultation.”

Mr. Aham Ejelam SAN (Chairman), Ibrahim Aliyu Nasarawa (Secretary), Muhammad M. Nuhu, Uju Okafor and Ume Maduka were appointed as members of the electoral committee. With the coming into force of the amended NBA Constitution 2025, two additional members were appointed into the committee during the February 5, 2026, NBA National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Maiduguri, namely Hadiza Nura Alfa and Umimke Helen Akpana, bringing the total number of ECNBA members to 7.

No sooner had the initial 5-member committee been ratified at the NBA NEC meeting in Benin on November 20, 2025, than allegations of bias became rife. It is safe to say that this has persisted throughout the entire life of the committee, notwithstanding that many observers vouch especially for the integrity of the committee chairman. CITY LAWYER recalls that one of the presidential candidates, Mr. Olumuyiwa Akinboro SAN had penned a joint petition dated 15^th February, 2026, with another presidential candidate, Mr. Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe SAN titled “ADMISSION OF BIAS AND PERSISTENT PARTISAN CONDUCT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION – CALL FOR URGENT INTERVENTION.” Addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, the duo called “for the immediate reconstitution of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, with clear safeguards guaranteeing independence, transparency, and neutrality.”

CITY LAWYER investigation shows that the petition may have been fueled by the appointment of both Ejelam and Nasarawa into the prestigious Body of Benchers. They replaced fiery Egbe Amofin O’odua elder, Chief Yomi Alliyu SAN and Mr. Jibrin Okutepa SAN. Alliyu had alleged that their replacement by NBA President, Mr. Afam Osigwe SAN was to spite them for leading the legal charge against NBA and the electoral committee in the build-up to the elections. Former NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN is the Chairman of the Benchers Appointment Committee of the Body of Benchers. Alegeh has been accused especially by Egbe Amofin as working hand-in-glove with Osigwe to enthrone their ‘anointed’ candidate as NBA President. In fact, in a post-election statement, Akinboro alleged that while Alegeh and Osigwe were initially enthusiastic about his presidential bid, the former NBA President turned full circle when he allegedly spurned Alegeh’s quid pro quo request that he should hammer out a 50-50 sharing formula between the South-West and Mid-West in taking turns at NBA presidency. Having ostensibly seen the hand-writing on the wall, Akinboro has not failed to tell anyone who cares to listen that he has no faith in the electoral committee.

THE EGBE AMOFIN FACTOR

Though the regional fora – namely Egbe Amofin O’odua, Eastern Bar Forum (EBF), Arewa Lawyers Forum (ALF) and, to a lesser extent, Mid-West Bar Forum (MWBF) – traditionally had a mutual understanding to honour requests to back any candidate presented by the forum, the arrangement suffered a colossal failure during the current electoral cycle.

Aside from the fact that the ALF is near comatose and currently unable to reach a consensus on such matters (in fact, CITY LAWYER gathered that a recent meeting in Abuja to revive the body was hurriedly dispersed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria on the pretext that “The elders are angry”), Osigwe’s apparent influence over the EBF ensured that the body turned a deaf ear to the clamour by Egbe to adopt Akinboro as its consensus candidate. Some watchers of NBA politics argue that while Akinboro was initially the candidate to beat, the twin challenges of Egbe’s adoption and the strident interventions by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN – which ostensibly cast him in the mould of the ‘government candidate’ – saw his political fortunes plummet. The vacation of the injunctions against the ECNBA following a failed attempt to remove the body via the instrumentality of the courts seemed to have sounded a death knell on Akinboro’s quest, moreso as he was cast as being imposed on lawyers willy-nilly by Egbe rather than through a consensual process.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S LAST-DITCH EFFORT

Following the intrigues and controversies that continued to trail the elections especially against the backdrop of the rumpus that attended Fagbemi’s ill-fated “Directions” to the NBA, CITY LAWYER gathered that Osigwe opted to explore a rapproachement among key stakeholders. This led him to solicit the Attorney-General to convene a meeting in that regard alongside the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Albert Akpomudje SAN. CITY LAWYER gathered from impeccable sources that while Akinboro sought a two-week postponement of the election ostensibly to enable the ECNBA communicate agreed changes to the electoral guidelines to the electorate, Akangbe ultimately sought a one-week extension. On the other hand, both Ejelam and another presidential candidate (now NBA President-elect), Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya SAN vehemently opposed any postponement, arguing that any changes could be communicated to the electorate within the existing time table.

Sources who are familiar with the proceedings told CITY LAWYER that Fagbemi ‘decreed’ a one-week extension, adding that there was no consensus on such a decision. Smarting from allegations that he impugned the office of the Attorney-General in the manner the NBA rejected Fagbemi’s “Directions,” Osigwe apparently sought the cover of the NBA NEC in forging ahead with the elections. He promptly scheduled an Emergency Meeting of the body for the next day and obtained its green light to proceed with the election as scheduled. However, he would seem to have conceded to the decision to abandon the use of emails to receive OTPs during the election, a decision that would come back to haunt the election.

DSS AS UNWELCOME GUEST

The role of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the myriad of challenges that beset the poll on Election Day may not be fully told. In fact, CITY LAWYER gathered that it was as the stakeholders’ meeting summoned and chaired by Fagbemi at the instance of Osigwe was rounding off that news filtered in that the Managing Director of  Thanelinc Nigeria Limited, the data service provider, had been whisked away by DSS operatives. In fact, he was on his way to Abuja to conclude preparations for the election. It was gathered that his laptop was seized by DSS operatives on the pretext that they had been on his trail in connection with cybercrime. But CITY LAWYER gathered that the operatives initially queried him concerning NBA elections, indicating that the cybercrime claim was a mere ruse. Even when the hapless Thanelic chief executive was released, the agency held on to his invaluable laptop. Before the laptop was released on Friday and he set off afresh on his journey to Abuja, over 48 hours of quality time had been lost. He could only arrive Abuja on Friday afternoon. It remains unclear how this delay impacted data integration into the voting portal as well as the necessary integrity tests that ought to have been conducted on the portal.

EX-PARTE ORDERS: THE STRATEGIC PULL BACK

There are strong indications that the ex-parte orders secured by some litigants against the ECNBA may have jolted the committee into re-calibrating its strategies, especially the election time table. In a classic case of once beaten twice shy, CITY LAWYER gathered from impeccable sources that the rescheduling of the elections from Monday, 20^th July, 2026, to Saturday, 18^th July, 2026, was to obviate any possibility of the committee being slammed with an ex-parte order directing it to halt declaration of results of the elections. This is said to have also informed the strident resistance by ECNBA and Badejo-Okusanya to any postponement of the election beyond 18^th July, 2026, as it was speculated that some litigants may procure a court order during the extended window to stall the election.

In fact, there are strong indications that, given that some stakeholders within Egbe were not comfortable with Osigwe oversighting the election, the grand plan was to strip him of his powers and empanel a Caretaker Committee through the instrumentality of the General Council of the Bar (GCB) of which the Attorney-General is the chairman. However, it would seem that Fagbemi had wanted a more conciliatory and rule-based approach, moreso as many felt that the circumstances for promulgating a Caretaker Committee had not arisen. While Egbe and some observers have cast the Attorney-General in the mould of a passionate peace maker who was desirous to hammer out a truce between the combatants, others (including the NBA leadership) felt that his ‘aggressive interventionist approach’ went beyond the call of duty and occasionally verged on attempting to muscle through the ‘Egbe Agenda’ through officialdom. However, even his hardest critics agree that Fagbemi has an endearing and large-hearted mien.

ELECTION DAY: CYBER ATTACK AND DAMAGE CONTROL

To say that the Election Day was near bedlam is to state the obvious. For an election that had witnessed so much drama, lawyers would have thought that the worst was over. Least did anyone expect that high drama was afoot.

CITY LAWYER gathered from impeccable sources that no sooner had the ECNBA displayed the dashboard showing the voting portal than everything went off in a flash. Multiple accounts show that this happened within the first ten minutes of attempting to launch the ballot. Sources told CITY LAWYER that INEC and DSS observers witnessed the attack, adding that the pictures of all the candidates were intact before the attack.

Following the attack, the service providers dived into damage control mode, trying to reconstruct the portal and move it to a different server. It was not until 7:35 am that the ECNBA set the voting process in motion again.

ELUSIVE OTP MEETS STUBBORN VOTING PORTAL

To say that many lawyers had a herculean task in trying to participate in the election is to state the obvious. Ironically, while one eligible voter may have voted seamlessly, another may not be able to receive the One-Time Password (OTP) or access the voting portal from start to finish as it kept returning an error message that ‘This website cannot be reached.’ In fact, some were reportedly able to receive multiple OTPs but still failed to cast their ballots. This clearly contributed to the marginal 31.86 percent (26,106 voters) turnout in the poll, out of a total of 82,172 registered voters.

It is a measure of the challenges that beset the election that both Akinboro and Akangbe could not vote during the election. CITY LAWYER investigation however shows that Akangbe’s name was not on the voters’ register, though he stated during a television interview that he was sent two voting links by both Osigwe and Ejelam but could still not vote.

Akangbe also claims that the electoral committee deployed no less than three voting portals during the elections, including https://ecnba.org.ng/vote/ecnba-ovs-main/ and https://aqydz-zgph.mailistmanage.com/click/110a3f85c1c7780b5/11a3f85c1c766239.

However, the “TECHNICAL OBSERVATION REPORT” submitted by his Accredited Technical Consultant, one Collins Onyemaobi, seems to contradict this assertion when it states that “Two URL forms associated with the voting process were observed during voting: ecnba.org.ng/vote/ecnba-ovs-main/ and ecnbaovs.org.ng/ecnba.org.ng/vote/ecnba-ovs-main/.” The consultant notes that his assertion arose from “Direct access observation” during the election.

At least one candidate for the position of General Secretary, Okey Ohagba also told CITY LAWYER that he could not cast his ballot. Notwithstanding the migration of the voting portal, some candidates’ portraits were still missing from the dashboard. These include Chinwendu Ugochukwu and Chiduabo Mamah, candidates for the posts of Welfare Secretary and Assistant General Secretary.

Given the slim voter turnout, some aggrieved candidates have argued that the election should be declared as inconclusive and a rerun election held by the ECNBA. Others however say that all the candidates were evenly impacted by the glitch, adding that there is no evidence that any candidate was favoured by the technical challenges. In fact, they point to NBA Lagos Branch which is the stronghold of Akangbe and Badejo-Okusanya as heavily impacted by the ‘disenfranchisement.’ Of  the about 15,126 register voters for the branch, only 3,470 voters were able to vote. They argue that Badejo-Okusanya could not have enjoyed ‘incumbency’ support and still be exposed to such level of ‘programmed disenfranchisement’ in a high stakes election such as the recent NBA Elections.

A DECADE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS

CITY LAWYER recalls that in the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud SAN polled 3,055 votes to defeat Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN who polled 2,384 votes. In 2018, Mr. Paul Usoro SAN polled 4,509 votes to defeat Chief Arthur Okafor Obi SAN and Prof. Ernest Ojukwu SAN who polled 4,423 votes and 3,313 votes respectively. Mr. Olumide Akpata polled 9,891 votes in 2020 to defeat two senior advocates – Dr. Babatunde Ajibade (4,328 votes) and Mr. Dele Adesina SAN (3,982 votes).

The votes spiked in 2022 when Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN polled 22, 342 votes to beat Gadzama who polled 10, 842 votes. Former NBA General Secretary, Mr. Jonathan Taidi SAN polled 1,373 votes to place third. In 2024, Osigwe polled 20,435 votes to defeat Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe who polled 10,998 votes and Mr. Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN who polled 9,018 votes, having dropped off midway into the election.

In the current election cycle, Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 (47.18%) to defeat her two rivals, Akangbe and Akinboro. While Akangbe polled 7,934 votes (30.39%) to emerge runner-up, Akinboro garnered 5,855 votes (22.43%) to bring up the rear. Some have however argued that Badejo-Okusanya was elected by ‘minority votes,’ given that her total tally of  47.18 per cent is less than the combined total tally for the two runners-up at 52.82 per cent. To view all the election results for the 2026 NBA elections, click here.

While total ballots for the 2022 presidential election stood at 34,557 votes, the 2024 presidential election tally berthed at 40,451 votes. On the other hand, the total figure for the 2026 presidential election stood at 26,106 votes.

HIGH LEVEL SCRUTINY

Another factor that is said to have positively impacted the elections is the high level of interest shown by sundry stakeholders. Aside from Egbe Amofin which waged a bruising battle with the NBA leadership in a bid to muscle through Akinboro, its “consensus candidate,” with past NBA President, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and Alegeh sparring on each side of the divide, the sensational inroad of the DSS into the fray raised the political barometer to its peak.

With the database firmly in the custody of the secret police, many stakeholders felt that the wind was taken out of the sail of any potential rigger, moreso as most rigging claims turn on manipulation of the voters’ register. Analysts argue that it would have been foolhardy for the election managers to have done anything untoward to influence the elections. They also point to the fact that, aside from having invited sundry organizations including INEC, DSS, Yiaga Africa and the Nigerian Police to monitor the elections, some of the observers were actually on ground to oversight the process.

THE MYSTERY BALLOT

There is no gainsaying that the election has thrown up at least on unresolved mystery. The declared winner of the election, Badejo-Okusanya, has sensationally stated that she actually cast her ballot but could not locate her name of the ballot register. While she is yet to present any evidence to buttress her statement, some have argued that her assertion is to make the challenges that beset the elections seem generic. Though some contend that her claim seems like one raining on her own parade, others however say that her assertion is an uncommon display of candour.

BALLOT REGISTER AS GAME CHANGER

If there is anything that has tended to rebuild trust in the fractious NBA electoral system, it is the audacious decision of the ECNBA to publish the branch-by-branch ballot register for the poll.

Given that all previous elections under the universal suffrage and electronic voting regime had been fraught with post-election tussles, the move is said to have doused doubts created in the minds of some stakeholders on the integrity of the elections. It may also signal a fitting prelude to the electoral reforms being sought by many stakeholders. However, the move has not quelled the quest by Akinboro and Akangbe among others to upturn the elections.

A PRELIMINARY PEEP INTO THE ‘BACK-END’

As stakeholders await ECNBA’s response to Akangbe’s petition to obtain a clearer insight into the technical side of things on Election Day, the report by his Accredited Technical Consultant, Mr. Collins Onyemaobi, presents the most reliable peep into what transpired during the elections.

He notes that multiple URL forms and a domain migration were observed on Election Day, adding that while the voting portal was briefly accessible, it appeared inaccessible within approximately ten minutes of the scheduled commencement of the elections. This was apparently when the cyber attack occurred, as indicated by CITY LAWYER investigation.

He records that the ECNBA later announced that voting would commence at 07:35 WAT following migration of the voting portal to a new domain, noting that voting activity was first observed on the monitoring dashboard at approximately 07:35 WAT.

According to Onyemaobi, no unauthorised disclosure of voter data was established, though the handling, access control and protection of personal data submitted through the OTP support process were not independently verified by him. He asserts that “No direct evidence of altered vote records was made available or observed.,” adding however that “Audit evidence was not provided” to him.

He also notes that “After commencement, material technical observations included reports of delayed or undelivered OTPs, a monitoring dashboard that remained static for approximately 30 minutes, continued OTP-related support requests and the observation of two voting URL forms. ECNBA also publicly attributed the initial interruption to a cyberattack. No system logs, incident records, security telemetry, OTP delivery reports, domain-routing records or reconciliation data were made available to the undersigned for independent assessment.”

In concluding, the consultant notes that “No evidence available to the undersigned established unauthorised alteration of vote records. However, the information made available was insufficient to provide independent technical assurance regarding the cause and impact of the interruptions, the relationship between the voting addresses, the controls applied to OTP support requests or the completeness and integrity of the underlying election records.”

BADEJO-OKUSANYA: THRILLS AND FRILLS?

As the first woman to ascend the NBA Presidency by direct ballot and the second woman to lead the association in its long history, Badejo-Okusanya has been framed by her supporters as an inspiring tale in breaking the glass ceiling. They contend that her meteoric rise remains an inspiration for many women who aspire for leadership positions. Observers note that she ran an aggressive campaign with top-notch branding, adding that she was perhaps the only candidate that visited almost all the NBA branches during this election cycle.

Eyebrows have however been raised regarding her ‘speedy’ visit to the Presidential Villa. Akangbe has lampooned the visit as not being in consonance with the “traditions” of the Bar, adding that it was designed as “intimidation” tactic for others who are asking questions about the integrity of the elections. Other analysts have observed that her team during the visit looked more like a ‘FIDA delegation,’ adding that other elected National Officers were curiously left out of her entourage.

Perhaps more troubling is that the Badejo-Okusanya Administration may be too insular as to turn its attention to the myriad of challenges that beset the Nigerian nation. There are fears that issues that touch on human rights and rule of law (upon which the motto of the association turns) as they impact the larger Nigerian society may take a back-seat given that the “Five Pillars” which form her Roadmap focus almost exclusively on “member welfare” and do not seem to sufficiently address these issues.

Equally concerning is that the NBA President-elect has allegedly presented the elections that brought her to power as flawless, a point alluded to by Akangbe during one of his interviews. Some observers argue that this is the clearest indication that electoral reforms will not be a priority for the incoming NBA President.

INAUGURATION: TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

Given the sundry intrigues that surrounded the recent elections as well as the strident calls by her opponents to reverse her return as NBA President-elect, many lawyers wait with baited breadth to see whether Badejo-Okusanya would be inaugurated as the next NBA President.

In an election cycle where the fear of an ex-parte order seems to be a permanent fixture, will there be yet another order that may torpedo her swearing-in? Will the GCB machinery be activated to wrought a Caretaker Committee? Will the EFCC re-enter the fray as it did in the post-2018 election cycle, based on Akinboro’s invitation to the anti-graft agency to probe the elections? Will the DSS deepen its unsettling foray into NBA Elections by doing a deep dive into the data set ostensibly in its custody vis-à-vis Election Day activities? What of the lawsuit by the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1471/2026, seeking “An order of interim/perpetual injunction restraining the 2nd Respondent (NBA), its agents, privies, National Executive Committee, or any persons claiming through them, from swearing in Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, or any other person as President of the Nigerian Bar Association or into any other National Office, until the final determination of this suit or further order of this court.” On whose side will the gavel of the NBA National Officers Election Appeal Committee fall? Only time will tell.

THE WAY FORWARD

One thing is clear: After a decade of universal suffrage and electronic voting, it is time for stakeholders to sit down and fashion out a less acrimonious framework for NBA elections.

Given the trust deficit that has perennially bedeviled the elections, some analysts suggest that the elections should be held electronically at the branch level while an electoral college is empanelled to collate the results at the national level. Fagbemi had in his “Directions” proposed an Independent Electoral Oversight and Audit Committee to supervise the election.

While some analysts have argued that the tenure of the ECNBA should be more durable, others contend that developing the political will to conduct a world class audit on the elections will assuage all rigging fears and ensure that the NBA is not in the news for the reasons during each election cycle. It will also enable the association to reclaim the moral authority to chastise INEC and other entities when their operations are deemed dysfunctional.

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