There are strong indications that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) may have micro-zoned the presidency of the association in the forthcoming elections to the South West bloc.

This indication emerged at the weekend as the association shut out at least two aspirants from the MidWest bloc from the high-profile Annual General Conference (AGC) ‘debate’ slated for presidential aspirants.

The controversy stems from the invitation by the AGC Planning Committee (AGCPC) of only four NBA presidential aspirants from the South West bloc for the highly anticipated ‘debate’ titled “A peep into the future.”

The highly suggestive theme anticipates that the aspirants will deploy the coveted AGC platform to enlighten NBA members on their blueprint for the association if elected, even as informal activities for next year’s elections gather steam.

Meanwhile, presidential aspirant and former First NBA Vice President, Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins has reacted to his exclusion from the debate, saying he was “disappointed” by the development.

He however said that it “must be an oversight” by the NBA leadership which could be rectified, adding that he is currently “consulting to determine what gave rise to this very concerning development.” He added that it would be “very unfortunate if it is deliberate.”

Paragraph 2 of Part IV of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution provides that “The positions of the President, First Vice President, Secnd (sic) Vice President, Third Vice President and General Secretary shall rotate among the three zones. In determining the eligibility of a candidate (sic) to contest for any of the rotated offices, regard shall be had to a candidate’s (sic) Geographical Zone of origin and not the geographical Zone where he/she carries on legal practice.”

Paragraph 4 of Part IV of the Second Schedule to the constitution provides that “Where a position is zoned to any particular geographical zone, the position shall be rotated and held in turn by the different groups and/or sections in the geographical zone.” CITY LAWYER observes that this provision has not been implemented in previous NBA elections. The 2026 NBA presidency is zoned to the Western Zone comprising six South West states and two Midwest states.

When CITY LAWYER suggested that the Afam Osigwe-led NBA may have decided to commence micro-zoning of electoral offices for the forthcoming elections, Aikpokpo-Martins dismissed the suggestion, saying that the position of the association on micro-zoning was settled by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) in the petition by former NBA presidential candidate, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN against the candidacy of immediate past NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN.

• Maikyau (centre) was cleared to run for NBA Presidency despite Gadzama’s petition  based on micro-zoning

Gadzama’s campaign organisation had argued that “having due regard to paragraph 2.2(d) of the second schedule to the NBA Constitution, an aspirant to the Office of the Presidency of the NBA has to be from a section/geo-political zone in the geographical zone where the Presidency is zoned, in this case the North for 2022 NBA election, in compliance with the constitutional rotation requirement. Owing to the fact that previous Presidents of the NBA have emerged from the North West and North Central geopolitical zones of the Northern Zone in times past, the import of section 9(3) of the Constitution and paragraph 2.2(d) of the second schedule of the Constitution on the 2022 NBA general election is that it is only the North Eastern geographical zone in the North that is yet to produce the NBA President, and therefore only candidates from the North East are eligible to contest the 2022 NBA Presidential election in view of the rotational principle enshrined in paragraph 2.2(d) of the second schedule to the Constitution. This line of thinking represents the clear and mandatory provision of the Constitution.”

Aside from Aikpokpo-Martins, former NBA Third Vice President, Mandy Demechi-Asagba had told CITY LAWYER that she would contest the 2026 presidential election. Both are from the Mid-West bloc comprising Delta and Edo States.

Among the aspirants invited for the debate are Mr. Olumuyiwa Akinboro SAN, Mr. Yemi Akangbe SAN, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN-designate) and Prof. Foluke Dada-Lawson.

Some stakeholders had argued that the NBA Constitution does not delineate the parameters for micro-zoning, adding that it is unclear whether it should be on ethnic, state or sectional basis. 

CITY LAWYER observes that the ECNBA has not been constituted by the NBA leadership, leading to the question of who determines the guidelines and qualifications for the forthcoming elections.

• This is a developing story.

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