Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief J. S. Okutepa, has challenged the decision of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), to invite foreign governments and civil society organisations to observe the association’s 2026 national elections.
Okutepa questioned the constitutional authority under which the NBA President extended invitations to organisations including the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Yiaga Africa and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), arguing that the responsibility for conducting the election rests with the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).
In a statement addressed to the NBA President, the senior lawyer maintained that international observers would not resolve the concerns many lawyers have already expressed about the credibility of the electoral process.
“My President sir, where did NBA possess the power to invite non-lawyers to observe elections of lawyers from? Sir where did you get the power to invite these organisations and countries from? Are you now Chairman of ECNBA? Is NBA the same as ECNBA?” Okutepa asked.
He further questioned why the NBA President, rather than the ECNBA, was issuing invitations to election observers.
“I thought ECNBA is said to be an independent body far from your office and is not subject to the control of the President of the NBA. Why have you chosen to invite these countries and organisations? To score what point?” he queried.
Okutepa also expressed doubts about the relevance of foreign observers in an election expected to be conducted electronically.
“Sir I thought that the elections of the NBA 2026 are going to be conducted online. If the elections are going to be online as I was made to understand, how are those you have invited to monitor the elections going to monitor it?” he asked.
According to the senior advocate, the major concerns among lawyers relate to the integrity of the electoral process before voting begins, not merely what happens on election day.
“Nigerian lawyers including my humble self are worried about the processes prior to this NBA elections. That informed the interventions of the past presidents of the NBA and the office and person of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation. I was in the meeting,” he stated.
Okutepa argued that the credibility of the election depends more on transparent procedures than on the presence of international observers.
“I have been consistent in my view that the processes of NBA elections matter much more than inviting external bodies to observe what most lawyers feel is a stage-managed process to produce an already pre-determined outcome,” he said.
Describing the invitation of foreign observers as “populist propaganda,” he challenged the NBA leadership to explain how the move would restore confidence in the electoral process.
“Mr President, kindly guide me on how the invitations you extended to these external organisations and countries will restore the dwindling confidence of most reasonable Nigerian lawyers in the electoral processes of NBA, which many believe that the outcome of the forthcoming NBA elections have already been pre-determined,” he added.
The senior lawyer also questioned the safeguards put in place to ensure credible electronic voting.
“I want to know sir what mechanism you have put in place that the much talked about universal suffrage is indeed universal suffrage and not an already one man or few men sitting somewhere to determine those to lead us at the behest of the emerging godfather of NBA elections.”
Reaffirming his commitment to the legal profession, Okutepa stressed that his criticisms were intended to strengthen the Nigerian Bar Association rather than undermine it.
“Mr President, aside NBA I have no any other association. I love it and I would not want it to be weakened and destroyed.”
The NBA President, Afam Osigwe, had earlier announced during a television interview that international and local observers were invited to monitor the 2026 elections as part of efforts to enhance transparency and boost confidence in the electoral process.
