NBA resisted attempts to interfere with its independence – Osigwe

Former Nigerian Bar Association President Afam Osigwe said the association spent his tenure resisting attempts to interfere with its independence and challenging actions he described as threats to constitutional democracy.

Speaking at the NBA’s 2026 Annual General Meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Osigwe said his administration, which began in August 2024, had also strengthened the association’s finances, digital infrastructure, welfare schemes, professional regulation and legal education.

He highlighted the NBA’s opposition to the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of democratically elected institutions. The association, he said, maintained that political disagreements and conflicts involving the executive or legislature did not justify suspending elected governments or displacing democratic institutions.

“We made it abundantly clear that constitutional democracy cannot be preserved through executive fiat, and that disagreements within the political process must always be resolved through constitutionally recognised institutions and legal mechanisms rather than extraordinary executive intervention,” Osigwe said.

He described the decision to move the NBA’s 2025 annual conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu as another expression of that position. He also pointed to the legal dispute over the 2026 NBA elections. According to Osigwe, the Court of Appeal in Ibadan ruled unanimously on July 14, 2026, that the Oyo State High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear a case seeking to stop the association’s Electoral Committee from conducting the election. The appellate court set aside the proceedings and interim order, clearing the way for the vote.

Osigwe said the NBA also rejected a purported directive attributed to the attorney-general of the federation. The directive allegedly called for the Electoral Committee of the NBA to be disbanded, the election service provider to be replaced, a caretaker committee to be appointed, National Identification Number verification to be added to the voter database and the NBA Constitution to be reviewed to alter its universal suffrage system.

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We made it abundantly clear that constitutional democracy cannot be preserved through executive fiat, and that disagreements within the political process must always be resolved through constitutionally recognised institutions and legal mechanisms rather than extraordinary executive intervention.