*Says Tinubu Is Weaponising Courts, Security Agencies Against NBA
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of using the controversy surrounding the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association national election as a rehearsal for alleged manipulation of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku alleged that the Federal Government was deploying against the NBA electoral process tactics it intended to use against opposition parties and candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
He maintained that the dispute was no longer merely about who would succeed Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, as NBA President, but had become an indication of what he described as the Tinubu administration’s broader approach to democratic contests.
Atiku accused the President of introducing “state-sponsored toxic politics of coronation” into the affairs of the legal profession and attempting to influence the emergence of the association’s next leadership.
“This desperation shows how the Tinubu-led APC government plans to use government agencies to rig the 2027 general elections,” the statement said.
The allegations were not accompanied by evidence establishing direct instructions from Tinubu, and the Presidency had not publicly responded to the statement at the time of this report.
Atiku alleged that government officials and their agents had resorted to litigation and institutional pressure to influence the NBA election and compel lawyers to accept a preferred presidential candidate.
He described the alleged use of the courts to determine the association’s electoral choices as a dangerous precedent capable of deepening existing divisions within the country.
“There have been media reports of how this government and its agents have resorted to the use of the courts to railroad members of the Bar into settling for its preferred candidate,” he said.
According to the former vice president, the alleged attempt to influence the NBA election reflected a broader strategy of weakening opposition parties through internal crises, judicial proceedings and the intervention of electoral institutions.
He claimed that efforts to secure the disqualification of two NBA presidential candidates mirrored what he believed the administration intended to do to opposition candidates before the 2027 general elections.
“By seeking to enthrone its preferred candidate by arm-twisting the NBA to disqualify two of the prospective candidates, the Tinubu Presidency was simply adopting its playbook,” the statement alleged.
Atiku insisted that responsibility for managing the NBA election belonged to the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.
The ECNBA was constituted under the NBA Constitution 2015, as amended in 2025, to conduct elections for the association’s national officers and representatives in the General Council of the Bar.
He urged government officials to allow the committee to conduct a free, credible and democratic election capable of ensuring a peaceful transition of leadership within the association.
“We wish to sound a note of warning to officials of the Tinubu government who are still desperate in achieving a preconceived result to give the NBA a break,” Atiku said.
He argued that the NBA should be permitted to regulate its internal electoral affairs without external political influence.
Atiku further alleged that after unsuccessful attempts to postpone the election, government officials had deployed security operatives against service providers involved in the process.
He linked the alleged action to the controversy generated by recommendations attributed to a committee connected with the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
“It is disgraceful and a negation of democracy that, in spite of the failed efforts to shift the polls, even with the open support of the Attorney-General of the Federation, officials of government are now deploying security agents to arrest service providers and frustrate the election,” the statement said.
Atiku’s media office did not identify the allegedly arrested service providers, the security agencies involved or the circumstances of the reported arrests. The claim has also not been independently confirmed.
The officially appointed electronic voting service provider for the election is Mikrodigital Connect, according to ECNBA notices.
The NBA election crisis intensified after the circulation of a document presented as the outcome of a committee constituted to examine disputes within the association.
The document reportedly recommended the dissolution of the ECNBA, postponement of the election, termination of the electronic voting service provider’s appointment and the creation of a caretaker arrangement.
The ECNBA rejected the purported suspension notice and maintained that the election remained scheduled to proceed.
NBA President Afam Osigwe also argued that only the association’s National Executive Council had the authority to direct the postponement of the national officers’ election.
The ECNBA said its electoral activities, including the appointment of service providers, publication of the voters’ register and voter-verification arrangements, were conducted under the NBA Constitution.
The NBA National Executive Council, at an emergency meeting held on Thursday, July 16, resolved that the election would proceed as scheduled on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The ECNBA had earlier moved the election from Monday, July 20, to Saturday, July 18, after consultations with candidates and requests that the poll be held during the weekend to encourage wider participation.
Electronic voting is scheduled to open at 12:00 a.m. and close at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.
Eligible voters are required to authenticate their identities with their Supreme Court enrolment numbers and one-time passwords sent to their registered telephone numbers or email addresses.
Collation, security verification and the official declaration of results are scheduled for Sunday, July 19. Election petitions must be filed by July 25, while appeals arising from the poll are expected to be concluded by August 16.
The ECNBA has maintained that it is committed to conducting a free, fair, inclusive and transparent election.
Atiku, however, warned that any external attempt to impose an outcome on the legal profession would undermine both the independence of the Bar and public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
He argued that the handling of the NBA dispute should concern all Nigerians because, in his view, it offered an early indication of how state institutions could be deployed during the 2027 elections.
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