The media office of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of interfering in the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election, describing it as a rehearsal for rigging the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the Atiku Media Office said it was concerned that Tinubu had extended what it called “state-sponsored toxic politics of coronation” to the NBA polls.
“We are concerned that President Bola Tinubu has brought his state-sponsored toxic politics of coronation to bear on the election of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),” the statement read.
The Atiku office alleged that the tactics being used in the NBA election mirror the strategy the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) is preparing to deploy in 2027.
“Curiously, this same strategy of imposition without allowing for free, fair and credible elections is what the Tinubu-led APC administration is working assiduously towards in the 2027 General Elections,” it said, adding that the President was “weakening opposition parties by instigating crises in the parties, destroying our democratic institutions and focused on rigging the elections.”
According to the statement, “the wild seeds of coronation that is being sowed all over the place, has found accommodation in the NBA Election.”
The group cited media reports alleging that government agents had resorted to the use of the courts to pressure Bar members into accepting a preferred candidate, calling this “a dangerous precedent that is capable of widening our fault lines, which this administration’s politics has turned into craters.”
It further argued that the NBA situation reflects a broader governing pattern, stating, “What is playing out in the NBA is clearly a confirmation that what Tinubu cannot compromise does not exist.”
The Atiku camp insisted that the NBA election remains the sole responsibility of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), appointed by the NBA’s National Executive Council, in line with the NBA Constitution of 2015, as amended.
It alleged that attempts to install a preferred candidate by pressuring the NBA to disqualify two prospective candidates were consistent with the government’s approach to opposition parties, describing it as an effort “to have the candidates of the opposition parties disqualified through the instrumentality of the courts and the electoral umpire.”
The group issued a direct warning to government officials it accused of pursuing a predetermined outcome.
“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 to organise a democratic election that will pave the way for a smooth transition of power,” the statement said, adding, “That is something that Tinubu may eventually learn from.”
It further alleged that despite failed efforts to postpone the polls — including what it described as open backing from the Attorney General of the Federation — government officials had gone further by deploying security agents to arrest service providers linked to the election. “It is disgraceful and a negation of democracy that inspite 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.
The Atiku Media Office concluded that the situation reveals the ruling party’s intentions ahead of the next general elections, stating, “This desperation shows how the Tinubu-led APC government plans to use government agencies to rig the 2027 general elections.”
