NBA presidential candidate and former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding the 2026 NBA National Officers’ Election, accusing the NBA leadership of distorting the outcome of a stakeholders’ meeting convened to address concerns over the credibility of the electoral process. He also reaffirmed his commitment to the presidential race and demanded an election founded on the agreed safeguards against manipulation. Read his full statement below:

A SEASON OF TOO MANY LIES, DECEITS AND HALF-TRUTHS: MY POSITION

It is not a secret that, over the years, the NBA National Election has lost credibility, and there is a widespread notion among lawyers and the general public that our elections are highly manipulated and rigged.

In fact, in the course of my engagement with lawyers, one question I have been consistently asked is what I intend to do to ensure that there is no rigging of the election. This notion among lawyers is not just a mere illusion, as it is borne out of the experience from our past elections. It is no news that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) once charged certain persons to court for rigging the NBA online elections by altering the email addresses of thousands of eligible voters and fraudulently using same to vote.

It is against this backdrop that my engagement with lawyers throughout my campaign has been focused on connecting with the majority of Nigerian lawyers, presenting my programme for Nigerian lawyers as contained in my Manifesto, and taking steps to ensure that the election is free, fair and transparent.

As expected, those who have benefited from the rigged election system have resisted every push towards guaranteeing a credible election. It has been a battle between light and darkness. There will be no retreat, no surrender until the NBA is freed from the shackles of the cabal that has held it captive with a rigged election system.

It is not a secret that the President’s posturing in this election has been in favour of a particular candidate whom he openly supports. Hence, the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and his spin doctors have used every opportunity to spin narratives in such a manner as to malign my candidature in this election, including suggesting that I am the candidate of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation following the Directions and Outcomes pursuant to the three-man Committee of the Past Presidents of the NBA.

The NBA President has openly castigated the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation’s Directions and Outcomes, but what he has failed to tell the Bar is that he was part of the meeting where the three-man Committee that made the recommendations was constituted, and that it was his Counsel, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, who nominated the Chairman of the three-man Committee.

The NBA President did not tell the Bar that I was not even part of the said meeting and that I was only requested, just like the other candidates, to submit a memorandum to the Committee stating our concerns with the election.

Just like every other member of the Bar, I read the Directions of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation pursuant to the recommendations of the three-man Committee, which were solely aimed at ensuring that the elections are conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner. Yet, these recommendations were maligned by those who continue to benefit from the rigged system. The NBA President went further to blackmail the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation’s intervention as an attempt to hijack and control the NBA.

I was, therefore, surprised when, on 15 July 2026, at about 8:52 a.m., I was called by the NBA President. I missed his call and, at about 10:27 a.m., I returned the call. He informed me that he and the HAGF had scheduled a meeting to resolve all the issues affecting the NBA election and that he had sent me the link to join the meeting.

I later saw that he had earlier, at about 9:36 a.m., sent me the link to join the meeting by 4:30 p.m., which I did, believing that the meeting was called out of a genuine desire to ensure that a free, fair and credible election was conducted.

In attendance were the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN; the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN; the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, HRM Olorogun Albert Akpomudje, SAN; the Chairman of the ECNBA, Aham Ejelam, SAN; all the members of the ECNBA; and all three presidential candidates in the NBA election.

At the meeting, Yemi Akangbe, SAN, and I basically complained about the same issues, principally:

1. The unconstitutional appointment of the ECNBA.
2. The opaque nature of the appointment of the election service providers by the ECNBA and the ECNBA’s failure to carry the candidates along in the election processes.
3. The capacity and competence of the service providers to conduct the election.
4. The decision of the ECNBA to retain the old voting system, which has been confirmed to be porous and has robbed our elections of credibility.

Further to the above, the following recommendations were also commonly made by Yemi Akangbe, SAN, and me:

1. That emails, which have been found to be a porous mode of authentication, should not be used for voter authentication in the election.
2. That pursuant to the NIMC Act, the National Identification Number (NIN) is the main mode of identification in Nigeria, and everybody who has a telephone number must have the same registered with NIN.
3. That every lawyer has a telephone number and, accordingly, has an NIN; hence, telephone numbers and NIN should be used for voter authentication.
4. That the voting platform should be configured to accept one vote per device so that one device cannot be used for multiple voting.
5. That since the ECNBA has issued guidelines and sensitisation on voting modalities, the change in voting modalities will require an extension of time to enable the ECNBA to sensitise voters on the new voting modalities.
6. That emails will only be used to receive confirmation of voting.

Although these recommendations were stoutly resisted by those who intend to continue to benefit from the system of election manipulation, it was eventually agreed at the meeting that NIN and telephone numbers would be used for voter authentication in the election, that one device could only cast one vote, and that the election would be rescheduled by one week.

In fact, while I was of the view that the election should be rescheduled by two weeks, it is on record that, at the meeting, the ECNBA confirmed that the changes to the election platform to accommodate the new voting modalities could be effected within three days. However, in view of the need to sensitise voters on the new voting modalities, it was agreed that the election should be rescheduled by one week.

We all recall that the election was initially fixed for 20 July 2026, but the date was later changed to 18 July 2026 without any approval by the NBA NEC. It is, therefore, strange that instead of the ECNBA notifying members of the change of date as agreed at the meeting called by the NBA President on 15 July 2026, the President called a virtual NEC meeting, which he micromanaged in such a manner as to arrive at a predetermined outcome to proceed with the election on 18 July 2026 and to jettison the agreed modalities that would guarantee a free, fair and credible election.

It is surprising that the agreement reached at the meeting, which was aimed at sanitising our electoral process, has been twisted by the NBA President to malign my candidature and deceive our members with lies and half-truths, while taking undue advantage of the noble desire of Nigerian lawyers to have a free Bar to spin a false narrative that the HAGF intends to hijack and control the Bar and impose a candidate.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that the meeting which the NBA President called and invited me to was not genuinely intended to resolve the issues and ensure the conduct of a free and fair election, but was clearly orchestrated to blackmail me and the HAGF.

I remain firmly in the race for the office of President of the NBA, and I insist on a free, fair and credible election devoid of any form of manipulation, harassment and intimidation of members, as well as the use of the organs and structures of the NBA to coerce members to support a particular candidate.

I stand by the agreement reached at the meeting called by the NBA President on 15 July 2026, and I am ready to present myself any day for election based on the modalities agreed at the said meeting.

Thank you.

Signed:

Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, FCIArb (UK), Life Bencher
Past General Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association.