In a recent commentary titled “Eastern Bar Forum and Its Body Language; NBA Elections 2026,” Mr. Bayo Akinlade raises questions about leadership and rotation in the NBA.

Yet what is framed as principle merely masks gatekeeping, and historical practice is confused with constitutional democracy.

The following points clarify why true leadership in the NBA is earned through inclusive participation, why tradition cannot replace choice, and why votes, not endorsements, remain the true test of legitimacy.

1. Democracy Is More Than Voting
   Universal suffrage is meaningless if the electorate is denied genuine choice. Democracy is defined not only by who votes but also by who voters are allowed to choose. Narrowing the option before the ballot is cast is managed consensus, not democracy. Fear of voter decision, expressed through pre-emptive disqualification, betrays insecurity, not principle. True leaders trust the ballot; gatekeepers fear it.
2. The NBA Is Not a Family Estate
   Leadership in the NBA is not inherited. The Association is governed by its Constitution, not by the filial obedience of its members to regional blocs. Respect for the bloc does not mean blind submission to non-binding political preferences, and disagreement within the bloc is not indiscipline; it is pluralism.
3. Rotation Was Meant to Promote Inclusion
   Rotational arrangements were introduced to promote inclusion, not to silence qualified voices. When rotation is used to control who can aspire to office, it becomes an instrument of exclusion. A system meant to prevent domination must not itself evolve into a tool of regional oligarchy.
4. Regional Consultation Cannot Become Veto
   Regional structures have value for balance, inclusion, and dialogue. They may advise, but they cannot dictate, and the Egbe’s attempt to convert consultation into compulsion is distasteful. No regional forum has the constitutional or moral authority to veto the ambition of a qualified member in a national election. Egbe may suggest; they may even recommend, but the electorate decides. Anything else inverts the democratic order.
5. Endorsements Are Persuasive, Not Decisive
   Egbe Amofin is not a primary election authority under the NBA Constitution, and its decision to endorse a candidate cannot be a substitute for voter judgment. Similarly, its decision not to endorse a candidate does not amount to a rejection by the wider electorate of voting members nationwide. Endorsement does not replace voter legitimacy.
6. Seeking National Support Is Leadership, Not Betrayal
   In a national election conducted by universal suffrage, appealing beyond one’s immediate bloc is neither betrayal nor bad faith. Leadership of a national office requires national legitimacy. Building bridges beyond one’s region strengthens candidacy; it does not weaken it.
7. The Ballot Is the Ultimate Test
   The voters decide. True leadership is tested in public and flows from inclusive participation and the collective will of members, not from the recommendation of a few who want to choose on behalf of everyone else.

Conclusion
In the final analysis, the NBA does not belong to blocs, fora, or gatekeepers; it belongs to its members. And leadership is earned at the ballot, not from inherited expectations or fear of open choice. Those who fear the vote have no claim to lead.

ADA CHIKA UDOBI, ESQ.
Past Vice Chairman
Onitsha Branch