Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential candidate, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb, has accused the outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and the proclaimed winner of the 2026 NBA presidential election, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, of hypocrisy over their positions on electoral transparency and accountability. In a statement issued following the disputed July 2026 national officers’ election, Akangbe reiterated his concerns over what he described as malpractice and incompetence in the electoral process conducted by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).
Akangbe recalled that the three leading presidential candidates adopted different positions following the election. While Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, questioned the legitimacy of the electoral process and called for an independent forensic audit, Akangbe said he pursued the available constitutional process by appealing to the National Officers Election Appeal Committee. He also filed an interlocutory application seeking access, on a redacted basis, to critical information and data relating to the electronic voting platforms used for the election, with the aim of independently verifying the integrity of the process. According to him, Badejo-Okusanya had earlier pledged to resign if credible evidence showed that the election was manipulated in her favour, but subsequently opposed his application for an audit on privacy and data-protection grounds. Akangbe said the NBA National Officers Election Appeal Committee ultimately dismissed his application in a ruling delivered on August 14, 2026.
The NBA presidential candidate also criticised Afam Osigwe over what he described as an inconsistency between the NBA’s approach to its own election and its position on the recently conducted Osun State governorship election. He pointed to the NBA President’s establishment of an election monitoring group and his engagement with electoral and security authorities in Osun State, including a call for neutrality and for institutions involved in the electoral process to refrain from using their offices or influence in favour of any candidate or political party. Akangbe maintained that the same principles of transparency, neutrality, due process and accountability should apply within the NBA itself, stressing that his campaign was not about an individual but about building an Association that works for its members and upholds the rule of law.
Read full statement below;
2026 NBA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
THE HYPOCRISY OF THE OUTGOING AND INCOMING PRESIDENT CONTINUES
Distinguished Colleagues,
On 19 July 2026, a day after the shambolic election of national officers of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) organised by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), under the Chairmanship of Aham Ejelam, SAN, I issued a ‘Thank You’ message to all Nigerian lawyers, expressing my appreciation for the efforts they put into the process despite the demonstrable malpractice and incompetence displayed by the ECNBA. In that press release, I also promised to communicate a comprehensive, fully informed and principled position on the next steps, and I pledged that such next steps would be grounded in evidence, anchored in law and above all, driven by a single objective: the protection of the democratic rights of every member of the Association who was denied their vote and ensuring accountability in our electoral process.
Recent developments have necessitated the need for me to issue this follow-up message and to highlight the hypocrisy presently on display not just from the proclaimed winner of the shambolic election, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, but also by the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN. To place this statement in the proper context, it is pertinent to recall the reactions of the three NBA Presidential Candidates in the immediate aftermath of the election.
Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN understandably took the view that the charade that took place on 18 and 19 July 2026 was not an election known to the NBA Constitution and therefore that an appeal to the National Officers Election Appeal Committee of the NBA would amount to legitimizing a body whose jurisdiction has not crystallized. Very importantly too, he called for an immediate independent forensic audit of the entire electoral process to determine critical issues relating to the election.
On my part, for the records and for the sake of posterity, I appealed to the National Officers Election Appeal Committee of the NBA in line with the provisions of the NBA Constitution and as a prelude to the next steps that I intend to take, which include exploring all legal remedies under the law to ensure that the NBA as an institution is accountable to its members, and our electoral process is reformed. In line this, I filed a formal interlocutory application to the Appeal Committee seeking inter alia an order directing the ECNBA to immediately release, on a REDACTED BASIS (i.e., with all personal information removed), all critical information, documents and data bases of the electronic voting platforms and domain(s) used for the conduct of the election under the supervision of the Director General of the Nigeria Information Technology and Development Agency to guarantee and verify the integrity of the process.
Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, in the course of her celebratory media rounds, pledged to submit herself to an audit and IMMEDIATELY RESIGN, if credible proof demonstrates that the election which brought her into office was manipulated in her favour.
One would have expected that Mrs. Badejo-Okusanya, SAN would keep her word and willingly submit to any transparent democratic process that would independently audit the election with a view to ascertaining if indeed the election that brought her into office was manipulated.
Ironically, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN refused to acknowledge a message from me, calling for a joint audit and, more importantly, objected to my application for an audit, the essence of which was to ascertain the number of our members who were disenfranchised, on the basis that the release of the information would violate members’ right to privacy and their data.
Unsurprisingly, the National Officers Election Appeal Committee of the NBA delivered its ruling on 14 August 2026 and dismissed my application. In other words, the same Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, who pledged to resign if credible evidence indicates election manipulation, turned around to object to an application that sought to examine the process and, if possible, expose the said manipulation.
The hypocrisy is further magnified by the fact that the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, set up an NBA election monitoring group to monitor the recently held Governorship Election in Osun State. He also led a delegation to visit the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State as well as the heads of the security agencies in the State where he “secured firm commitments towards the conduct of a free, fair, credible and peaceful election” and also “called on all institutions and individuals involved in the electoral process—including electoral officials, security agencies, political actors and public office holders, to REMAIN STRICTLY NEUTRAL AND REFRAIN FROM DEPLOYING THEIR OFFICES, POWERS OR INFLUENCE IN FAVOUR OF ANY CANDIDATE OR POLITICAL PARTY.” Underlining is for emphasis
In ending, let me repeat what I said on 19 July 2026, my campaign was never about one man. It was about the proposition that the NBA can be better; that it must be better; and that the lawyers of this country deserve an Association that works for them. If we are to actualise this, two things are necessary: first, we must continue to fight to ensure that things (our electoral process is conducted in accordance with our ideals of the rule of law, due process and accountability) are done properly, and second, hypocrisy is not the way to go.
Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb
Candidate for President,2026 NBA Election
Nigerian Bar Association