2026 NBA Elections: 35 Candidates Approved, Three SANs Target Presidency

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is set to hold its national elections, despite legal challenges and internal disputes that once threatened to stall the process.

On June 18, the NBA Electoral Committee (ECNBA) released a comprehensive list of legal practitioners cleared to contest the poll scheduled for July 20.

The publication included each candidate’s curriculum vitae, manifestoes, and approved campaign materials, all of which were submitted before the June 6 deadline.

According to the ECNBA, 35 candidates were cleared to run for various national offices within the association.

Three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) were cleared to contest the NBA Presidency, two candidates qualified for 1st Vice President, one for 3rd Vice President, and five lawyers were cleared for the General Secretary position.

Three candidates were cleared for Assistant General Secretary, three for Welfare Secretary, and three for Assistant Publicity Secretary; the Treasurer and Publicity Secretary positions each had a single candidate.

For representation on the General Council of the Bar, five lawyers were cleared to contest the Eastern zone, two for the Western zone, and five for the Northern zone.

Section 10(1) of the NBA Constitution 2015 (amended in 2025) establishes the ECNBA as an independent body responsible for conducting elections to national offices and for selecting NBA representatives to the General Council of the Bar.

With about nine months remaining in his tenure, incumbent President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, had initiated the process to select the association’s next leadership.

At the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Edo State on November 20, 2025, a five‑member ECNBA was approved to conduct the 2026 elections.

Mr. Aham Ejelam, SAN, was appointed Chairman to oversee the ECNBA, while Ibrahim Aliyu Nasarawa was approved as Secretary.

The other committee members are Muhammad M. Nuhu, Uju Okafor, and Ume Maduka.

The NBA President emphasized that the committee’s composition reflected the association’s commitment to transparency, integrity, and professionalism in its electoral processes.

The ECNBA confirmed the presidential aspirants as follows: Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, of the Abuja Branch (called to the Bar in 1991); Ms. Oyinkansola Badejo‑Okunsanya, SAN, of the Lagos Branch (2002), the only female candidate in recent times; and Mr. Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, of the Lagos Branch (2003).

The 2026 NBA presidency is zoned to the Western axis of the country.

Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, and Delta States constitute the Western Zone of the NBA.

The NBA Constitution provides for universal suffrage conducted through electronic voting, with the electorate comprising lawyers who have paid their practising fees and branch dues.

While the election process was underway, the association faced internal disputes that raised allegations of bias against the current national leadership.

At the heart of the concerns was a reported consensus deal that prompted legal actions threatening the conduct of the elections.

The association had adopted a power‑rotation formula to address instability, hegemony, marginalisation, and domination by one segment or region over others.

The zoning arrangement was intended to promote fairness in NBA leadership allocation and foster political stability within the organisation.

Following a perceived attempt to violate a deal that reportedly identified a consensus presidential candidate for the Western zone, the Incorporated Trustees of Egbe Amofin O’odua took the NBA to court.

Specifically, Egbe Amofin O’odua, an association of lawyers of Yoruba extraction, insisted that the NBA must adopt Aare Akinboro, SAN, as the sole candidate for the election, having declared him its consensus candidate for the Western Zone – whose turn it is to produce the next NBA President.

As a result of suit I/205/2026, Justice Y. S. Adekunle of the Oyo State High Court granted an interim injunction on February 24, barring the NBA from recognising or processing nominations outside the Yoruba lawyers’ consensus candidate arrangement for the presidency.

Likewise, Justice G. A. Opayinka of the same court issued an interim injunction that initially halted all steps toward conducting the 2026 NBA elections.

Suit I/221/2026 was filed by four aggrieved lawyers: Ibrahim Lawal, Raymond Oki, Omotan Olusola Ogunmodede, and Chief Gabriel Ojo Adekunle Ijalana.

They sought to restrain the NBA leadership and ECNBA members from presenting themselves as officials or taking any further action toward the election, pending the hearing of their motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.

The defendants included NBA President Osigwe, SAN; the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA; the Body of Benchers; the Attorney‑General of the Federation (as Chairman of the General Council of the Bar); and several senior lawyers.

Justice Opayinka’s order restrained the NBA President and other defendants from constituting, supervising, or interfering in any way with the ECNBA or the election process.

Even though the Yoruba regional power bloc supported Akinboro, SAN, the other two aspirants, Badejo‑Okunsanya, SAN, and Akangbe, SAN, both from the zone, continued to pursue their presidential ambitions.

Meanwhile, despite the legal challenges, the ECNBA remained steadfast in its mandate, continuing to engage with candidates, the electorate, and the general public. It also made available for public assessment the profiles and manifestos of all candidates.

In the 2026 NBA National Elections Magazine, the Ejelam‑led electoral committee reaffirmed its commitment to a free, fair, and transparent electoral process.

Remarkably, the welfare of lawyers dominated most of the manifestos.

With over 140,000 lawyers on its roll across 128 active branches spanning Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, all eyes will be on the NBA – widely regarded as the largest Bar in Africa – as it elects those who will steer its national affairs until 2028.