NBA election faces ethno-tribal micro-zoning over western presidency
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) leadership election scheduled for 18 July 2026 is being challenged by ethno-tribal caucuses seeking to influence the outcome through micro-zoning. The Egbe Amofin Oodua, representing Yoruba lawyers, has put forward Muyiwa Akinboro SAN as its preferred candidate for the western zone presidency, while fellow southwestern candidates Yemi Akangbe SAN and Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya SAN refuse to step down. Egbe claims it has micro-zoned the position to the specific area where Akinboro originates and demands the NBA exclude the other contenders, a move unprecedented in the association’s history. This follows a lawsuit filed at the High Court in Ibadan, which issued interim injunctions against the election process; the NBA appealed, and a subcommittee led by former president Wole Olanipekun SAN produced conflicting reports on resolution. The Attorney-General of the Federation largely endorsed the Olanipekun-Odogiyan report, which recommends postponing the election to August and replacing universal suffrage with a delegate system, but the Court of Appeal rejected an attempt to bypass litigation on 8 July. Pending judgment, the election is expected to proceed under court protection. Two offices will be uncontested, eight contested, with eligible voters rising from 72,071 in 2024 to 82,213 this year—the highest ever. The outcome will test whether internal conventions can resist being turned into ethno-tribal vetoes that threaten the bar’s independence.