NBA set to elect 33rd president amid leadership crisis

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, is set for a defining moment as it elects its 33rd President in the third week of July 2026, a contest that has once again exposed deep cracks in the leadership selection process of Nigeria’s foremost lawyers’ body.

In a compelling reflection titled ‘For the Nigerian Bar Association, A Time for a Bold Retool’, renowned law professor and human rights advocate, Prof Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, traced the 126-year history of the NBA and warned that the association must urgently confront five critical threats to its relevance.

Odinkalu noted that the NBA’s history mirrors Nigeria’s political evolution. Founded in 1900, the same year Queen Victoria’s government assumed formal authority over Nigeria, the Association was led for 59 years under a lifetime chairmanship model.

From Christopher Sapara Williams, Nigeria’s first lawyer, who served from 1900 until his death in 1915, to Sir Kitoyi Ajasa, Olawolu Eric Moore, Eric James Alex Taylor, Adeyemo Alakija and Alhaji Jubril Martins, who died in June 1959, leadership was for life.

The modern presidency began with Chief Frederick Rotimi Alade Williams in 1960, who remains the longest-serving President (1960-1968).

Since Richard Akinjide’s tenure (1970-1973), no NBA President has served more than two years. The association has produced 32 Presidents since its independence.

According to Odinkalu, the NBA has oscillated between two ideological pathways represented by its first two leaders: radical confrontation as embodied by Sapara Williams, who defended native rights and championed restructuring, and collaboration as represented by Sir Kitoyi Ajasa, a close confidant of Lord Lugard.

He argued that a third pathway, pragmatism, now defines the Association.

The 2016 reforms that introduced universal suffrage, zoning and digital balloting have created new challenges, the Professor said.

According to him, while giving power to young lawyers who constitute the majority of voters, it has exposed the NBA’s weak data management system.

In his words: “The formal rotation of key positions across regions, though intended to manage diversity, has been weaponised.”

Odinkalu revealed that in #NBADecides2026, a candidate turned zoning into “a destructive weapon of political entitlement” with backing that inveigled the Attorney-General of the Federation, requiring the Court of Appeal to intervene.

While insisting that the migration to e-voting has been plagued by integrity concerns, Odinkalu cited the 2026 polls, where voting was delayed by over seven hours due to what the Electoral Committee of the NBA, ECNBA, described as a coordinated cyberattack on its electronic voting platform.

He called it foreseeable and demanded transparent post-ballot forensics.

“Since 2014, NBA presidential campaigns have crossed the N1 billion mark, turning the contest into a liquidity derby. The NBA is a multi-billion-dollar organisation, making its presidency a position of huge patronage.

“The high cost of elections has forced candidates to seek funding from Politically Exposed Persons, PEPs,” a development Odinkalu warned could compromise the NBA’s core motto of promoting the rule of law.

The Professor argued that “The road to the ballot in #NBADecides2026 has encountered more obstacles than a demolition derby,” warning that the outcome may end up in court again.

He urged the NBA to institutionalise bold and transparent reforms to its electoral process, stressing that failure to do so will endanger its credibility ahead of Nigeria’s crucial 2027 general elections.

“The association must confront with bold transparency the duty to continuously improve the administration of its leadership processes,” he added.