The election crisis within the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Okitipupa Branch, deepened on Monday as aggrieved members disclosed that they were considering the conduct of a parallel election should the Branch Electoral Committee proceed with the election scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, without first resolving the constitutional disputes surrounding the electoral process.
The development followed proceedings before the Federal High Court, Akure Judicial Division, where fifty-two (52) financial members of the NBA, Okitipupa Branch, who requisitioned the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of June 11, 2026, instituted a representative action through appointed representatives, seeking preservative reliefs pending the determination of disputes already referred to the constitutional organs of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Addressing journalists shortly after the court proceedings, Counsel to the Plaintiffs, Tope Temokun, Esq., explained that the action before the Federal High Court was not an invitation to the Court to determine the internal affairs of the Association but rather to preserve the subject matter pending the conclusion of the constitutional dispute resolution process established under Section 21 of the NBA Constitution, 2015 (as amended in 2025).
According to him, the fifty-two financial members first exhausted the Association’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms by petitioning the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Dispute Resolution Committee and the Branch Electoral Committee before commencing the representative action through their appointed representatives.
Temokun stated that the principal grievance relates to the conduct of the Branch Electoral Committee, which, according to the aggrieved members, acted contrary to resolutions validly passed by the Branch Congress at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on June 11, 2026.
He explained that the Electoral Committee itself was constituted by the Congress and derives its authority from that body, not in anyway independent of the body or superior to the body. Referring to Article 11 of the NBA Uniform Bye-Laws for Branches, he maintained that the General Meeting (Congress) is the supreme organ of the Branch and that its decisions on matters affecting the Branch are final and binding until reviewed by another General Meeting.
According to him, the Congress considered the peculiar circumstances of the Okitipupa Branch, whose members are spread across different parts of the country, including Lagos, Ondo, Akure, Abuja, while branch meetings have historically been conducted only physically without any virtual participation, while since 2018 eligibility to vote and be voted for has been 2 meetings.
He said Congress resolved that the implementation of the newly introduced requirement of attendance at five branch meetings should operate as a transitional measure for the current election cycle, with strict compliance to commence from the next election when members would have had the benefit of twelve preceding meetings contemplated under the Uniform Bye-Laws.
Temokun alleged that despite the Secretary of the Branch communicating on the official platform of the branch that the Congress had extensively deliberated on the issue and that its resolutions were final and binding, the Branch Electoral Committee subsequently issued electoral guidelines insisting on five-meeting attendance requirement, leading to the disqualification of several members, including a chairmanship aspirant.
He further contended that the Electoral Committee also failed to comply with provisions of the Uniform Bye-Laws requiring the publication of the voters’ register and list of nominated candidates at least thirty days before the election, noting that the lists were published on June 16 while the election was fixed for June 30.
According to him, these and other complaints have already been submitted to the constitutionally established Dispute Resolution Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, whose proceedings remain pending.
He emphasized that the suit before the Federal High Court does not seek a determination of those constitutional questions but merely asks the Court to preserve the subject matter pending the conclusion of the NBA’s internal constitutional dispute resolution process.
Temokun also disclosed that the National Leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association has commenced efforts to resolve the dispute through stakeholder engagements being coordinated by the Second Vice President of the Association.
While commending the intervention of the national body, he expressed concern that indications suggested that the Branch Electoral Committee intended to proceed with the election despite the ongoing reconciliation efforts and the unresolved constitutional processes and in defiance of the preservative action pending in court in which the chairman and the secretary of the electoral committee are 3rd and 4th Defendants respectively.
According to him, the aggrieved members have consequently commenced consultations on lawful options available to them should the scheduled election proceed notwithstanding the pending constitutional processes.
Temokun also referred to the Branch meeting of June 25, 2026, which he said had been duly convened by the Executive Committee. According to him, although several members of the Executive Committee were absent, members present deliberated on the crisis and adopted resolutions which continue to guide the position of the requisitionists.
Speaking separately, the chairmanship aspirant, Uche Abangwu, Esq., challenged his disqualification from the election, maintaining that he satisfied the attendance requirement relied upon by the Electoral Committee.
He stated that he attended and hosted the July 2025 branch meeting and also attended the meetings held in March, April, May and June 2026, thereby recording five qualifying attendances.
Abangwu further alleged that his attendance at the July 2025 meeting was omitted from the attendance records relied upon by the Electoral Committee despite his role as host of the meeting and despite identifying members who could verify his attendance.
He also stated that although he petitioned the Election appeal Committee challenging his disqualification, the committee, without furnishing him with the defence of the respondents to his petition to let him respond in the spirit of fair hearing, hurriedly sent out a purported decision that was not signed by any of the five-man committee but by one unknown person who claimed to sign for the chairman and upheld his disqualification, thereby denying him an opportunity to respond to the issues raised against him.
The aggrieved members who spoke to the press after the court sitting in Akure, insisted that even the chairman of the electoral committee who is presiding over massive disqualification did not meet up with five meetings requirements to participate in any capacity in the electoral process and threatened to conduct parallel election should the electoral committee proceeds with its scheduled election for tomorrow June 30 2026.
The aggrieved members reiterated that their objective remains the preservation of constitutional governance, internal democracy and the rule of law within the Nigerian Bar Association.
The NBA Okitipupa Branch election has been scheduled to hold on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, but the brewing crisis may lead to parallel elections, as being considered by the Aggrieved members who spoke massive to the press in Akure after today’s court proceeding, while engagements between stakeholders and the NBA National Leadership are understood to be continuing.