From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The pan-Yoruba lawyers’ group, Egbe Amofin O’odua, has criticised Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN) and others for attacking Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), over his directive on the NBA’s upcoming 2026 national officers’ election.
In a statement signed by the group’s chairman, Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju (SAN), and secretary, Prince Adetunji Oso (SAN), Egbe Amofin described the backlash against Fagbemi as “unfortunate and misleading,” and accused critics of ignoring the substance of his directives.
Fagbemi had, after a June 11, 2026 meeting with former NBA presidents, directed the association’s executive to shift the election from late July to August. He cited unresolved concerns including the compulsory use of the National Identification Number (NIN) for electronic voting, pending litigation that needed to be withdrawn, and questions over an untested service provider engaged by the Electoral Committee.
Osigwe had rejected the directive, calling it an unconstitutional interference in the affairs of an independent body that exceeded the AGF’s powers and breached Section 10(2) of the Legal Practitioners Act. He also faulted the outcome of the June 11 meeting, alleging bias involving members of a three-member committee that included Wole Olanipekun (SAN), after he himself did not attend a follow-up meeting scheduled for June 23.
Egbe Amofin pushed back on that characterisation, naming Osigwe, the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF), and the Mid-Western Bar Forum (MBF) as among those making “denigrating and disparaging commentaries” against Fagbemi and senior South-West Bar leaders.
“These vituperators, purveyors of commentaries, or opinion peddlers have chosen not to address, positively, realistically, and objectively any of the directions of the HAGF,” the group said.
According to Egbe Amofin, Fagbemi’s directive followed the report of a three-member committee set up on June 11, 2026, arising from a meeting with all NBA past presidents since 1998 and lead counsel in three related cases — Suit Nos. 1/205/2026, I/221/2026, and Appeal No. CA/B/110/2026 — a meeting Osigwe did not attend.
The group closed by invoking a recent admonition to the NBA that the association’s institutional credibility is at stake, and that its election process must be judged against standards of the rule of law, public confidence, and democratic legitimacy — arguing lawyers cannot demand democratic standards of others while falling short of them internally.
(The Sun)