Can Osigwe Restore NBA’s Lost Glory?

As Afam Osigwe assumes leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association, many wonder if he can restore the association’s traditional role as a powerful advocate for the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria, Wale Igbintade writes

Last weekend, legal practitioners elected new executives to pilot the affairs of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for the next two years.

In the election conducted in Abuja but held virtually, Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), emerged as the 32nd president of the association.

A former General Secretary of the association between 2014 and 2016, Osigwe, polled 20,435 votes, more than half of the total ballots cast for the presidential position, to defeat his two rivals – Tobenna Erojikwe, who came a distant second with 10,998 votes, and another SAN, Chukwuka Ikuazom, who came third with 9,018 votes.

As of the time voting closed, 40,451 votes were tallied for the office of the association’s president with 205 abstentions, according to the results portal updated every minute by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA).

The position of the 1st Vice-President went to Mr. Sabastine Anyia who polled 12,114 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr. Barthlomew Aguegbodo, who scored 6,864 votes, while four other contestants trailed behind.

For the position of the 2nd Vice-President, Mrs. Bolatumi Olasunbo Animashun polled 26,534 votes to defeat Mr. Pius Idemudia Oiwoh’s 11,121 votes.

Similarly, Mrs. Zainab Aminu Garba defeated Mr. Michael Olarewaju Olorunmola to emerge as the 3rd Vice-President, having polled 23,550 votes against Olorunmola’s 13,897 votes.

The post of General Secretary went to Dr. Mobolaji Idris Ojibara, who scored 25,713 votes to defeat Mr. Abdulwasiu Alpha, who scored 11,730 votes

Winners also emerged from the elections of nine other national officers. Zonal representatives of the General Council of the association from the Eastern, Northern and Western zones were also elected.

The position of the president was restricted to eligible candidates from the Eastern zone of the NBA, whose turn it was, under the association’s strict zoning arrangement, to fill the position for the next two years.

The two other regional groups are the Western Zone and the Northern Zone, which produced the outgoing president in 2022. A splinter zone, called the Mid-Western zone emerged from the Western region in 2014 to produce Augustine Alegeh, a SAN, as the president. But the group has since retracted to its low-key status within the Western zone.

Osigwe, whose legal career has spanned 25 years from when he was called to the Bar in 1999, is set to take over as the 32nd NBA president when the outgoing president, Yakubu Maikyau, who represents the Northern zone, completes his two-year tenure in August.

The inauguration of the new president and other national officers is billed to take place during the NBA 2024 Annual Conference in Lagos between August 23 and 28.

Osigwe, who perhaps knows that he would be assuming the leadership of NBA at a time when its rating is very low, has however, promised that under his watch, the association would promote the rule of law, and protect human rights in the country.

The president-elect, who campaigned for office to tackle corruption in the bar and on the bench, is expected to revive the dwindling NBA’s traditional role of holding public officers accountable and take leadership on other issues of public interest.

His NBA leadership comes when public confidence in the judiciary and the legal profession, generally, has kept a downward spiral fuelled by a series of perverse court decisions, crashing professional and ethical standards, and frustrating delay of cases in courts.

Osigwe, who became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2020, will also inherit the welling discontent of various interest groups threatening to break the NBA into splinters.

Like every other election the association has held in recent times, the one for the president’s office did not come without controversies.

One of the candidates, Ikwuazom, a former chairperson of NBA, Lagos branch, announced his withdrawal from the race at the middle of the voting, alleging that the process was compromised to ensure a predetermined outcome, insisting that the vote counts did not reflect the support he received.

“It has become increasingly evident that the integrity of the electoral process has been compromised. Despite the overwhelming support from my dedicated supporters, the reported figures do not align with the true expression of our votes. As a candidate committed to upholding transparency and the rule of law, I cannot in good conscience continue to participate in a compromised electoral process,” Ikwuazom said in a statement.

However, his opponents have pointed out that the support he claimed to have received was mere endorsement of candidates in every election which does not translate to votes.

A screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation purportedly between some senior lawyers suggesting that President Bola Tinubu was making frantic efforts to sway votes for Osigwe also circulated online on the day of the election.

But the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), denied the purported president’s backing of Osigwe. In a statement, Fagbemi maintained that President Tinubu did not instruct anyone to campaign for any candidate.

“He (Tinubu) will abide by the outcome of a free and fair election and is ready to work with any candidate that emerges,” Fagbemi said in a statement.

As the new executive takes over the leadership of the NBA later in the month, it is expected that it will restore the lost glory to the revered association. One area it needs to do this is to confront erring members, no matter how influential they are, who are in the habit of filing frivolous suits and those that end ridiculing the judiciary. 

Another challenge before Osigwe and his team of newly elected officials would have to contend with is internal disagreement. Over the past few years, dissatisfied members of the association have indicated readiness to pull out and form a parallel association of legal practitioners in the country.

Only last year, the outgoing president, Maikyau, had a tough time with some members of his executive, who had accused him of running a one-man show, as well as spending a whopping N700 million on conference bags used at the NBA 2023 Annual General Conference. Maikyau, while fighting back had accused his predecessor, Mr. Olumide Akpata of fraud over the launch of the NBA portal. Indeed, the 2023 conference could best be described as a “No holds barred” movie of Learned Colleagues, joyfully washing their dirty clothes in the full glare of the public.

The association under Maikyau is currently in court with the chairman of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins, who was sacked for engaging in activities that allegedly undermined the authority of the NBA President. The sacked executives are however challenging the powers of the NBA council to remove them from office.

Many Nigerians still remember with nostalgia the era when the likes of Alao Aka-Bashorun and other activists were the President of the NBA and the vibrancy they brought to the association. That vibrancy has however been elusive since the past nine years.

This is why many look forward to seeing an association that would not only speak truth to power and promote the rule of law and protect human rights in the country but would make the government of the day and people be held responsible for their actions.

In the past nine years, so many unimaginable things and events have happened both in the judiciary and society that have made Nigerians wonder if there is still an NBA. The government of the day has not only trampled on rights but ridiculed court judgments, and the constitution; harassed and intimidated judges to the consternation of the people without any strong resistance from the NBA other than the mere issuance of press statements.

This is why many observers feel that the last time they saw the Aka-Bashorun kind of vibrancy in the NBA was when the likes of Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) were presidents of the association.

“It’s so sad for Nigeria, all the pressure groups and eminent persons we grew up knowing how they stood up to the government, defending the rights of the people, be they NBA, CSOs, NLC, NUPENG, PENGASSAN, etc, have all been hijacked by incompetent and inactive people, thereby relegating these bodies to the background. They have all lost their voices because they are all pursuing personal agenda instead of a better society for all,” said a lawyer who spoke to THISDAY on account of anonymity.

Another senior lawyer also revealed to THISDAY thus: “The NBA officials we have in recent times were very disappointing. Most of them are vying for these positions for personal aggrandisement. Even lawyers who used to be very vocal and vociferous on human rights issues, have lost their voices.”

“They have turned the NBA, an association that used to be a serious organ and a major weapon in the fight for the protection of the common man to a lame duck. Its main reason for existence should be the protection of the sanctity of the judiciary. Even in that area, it has failed Nigerians woefully,” he further stated.

Despite the enthusiasm that has greeted Osigwe’s election, many wonder if he would give the NBA the strong voice it was known for. The association over the years has been in the vanguard of promoting the rule of law and the entrenchment of good governance in Nigeria. It also acts as the voice of the voiceless and the watchdog that barks when things go against order and bites when necessary.

Observers are also wondering if his presidency would be able to resolve the growing divisions in the legal profession and the deep quest for the salvaging of ethics among lawyers.

The days ahead would certainly be the judge.