The lingering leadership crisis rocking the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Branch, took a significant turn on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as members at a keenly anticipated Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) yesterday, forced the Chairman, Dr. Mazi Udegbulem, to step aside from presiding over the meeting, dissolved the five-man investigative committee earlier constituted by him and appointed a fresh committee to, independent of the committee set up by the President of NBA Mrs. OyinkasolaBadejo-Okunsanya, SAN, probe the receipt and disbursement of the ₦100 million donated to the Branch by the Imo State Government.
The meeting, held at the NBA Bar Centre within the Magistrates’ Court premises in Owerri, also witnessed a dramatic confrontation over the Chairman’s continued role in presiding over proceedings, culminating in his forced decision to step aside following sustained objections by members.
The developments represent a fresh chapter in the controversy surrounding allegations of misappropriation of the ₦100 million grant, which has generated considerable tension within the Branch.
However, the crisis began at the Branch’s General Meeting of September 26, 2026, when allegations concerning the management of the ₦100 million donation sparked calls for the Chairman’s impeachment.
At that meeting, members purportedly adopted a resolution impeaching the Chairman. However, following his refusal to step aside, a substantial number of members staged a walkout.
The Chairman after the walkout constituted a five-man committee to investigate the allegations against him, a decision that immediately provoked further controversy.
Members opposed to the arrangement questioned the propriety of a Chairman presiding over a meeting at which he constituted a committee to investigate allegations directly involving himself. They insisted that such an arrangement raised fundamental concerns about independence, impartiality and accountability.
Consequently, 183 members of the Branch invoked the relevant provisions of the NBA Uniform Bye-Laws by requisitioning an Extraordinary General Meeting.
In a letter dated October 2, 2026, addressed to the Chairman through the Branch Secretary, the requisitionists requested that the meeting be convened for Saturday, October 10, 2026.
However, following an Executive Committee meeting on October 8, the Chairman, through a letter signed by the Assistant Secretary, rejected the proposed meeting as unconstitutional.
The signatories also questioned the authority of the Assistant Secretary, whose appointment in July to fill a vacant position was said to have expired on September 28, 2026.
Following the expiration of the seven-day period allowed under the Article 11[4] for the Chairman to direct the Secretary to convene the requisitioned meeting, the requisitionists, acting through their convener, Mr. Chinedu Agu, issued a notice maintaining October 10, 2026, as the meeting date.
The development was followed by police intervention. On Friday, October 9, Mr. Agu was detained for approximately eight hours at the X-Squad Unit of the Imo State Police Command following allegations of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, impersonation of the Chairman and cyberbullying.
The allegations reportedly arose from a complaint lodged by a non-financial Branch member, Mr. Godson Killiwe-Nwachukwu. The requisitionists questioned the circumstances surrounding the complaint and the resulting police intervention.
Mr. Agu was eventually released that night, reportedly with a directive from the Imo State Commissioner of Police that the scheduled October 10 meeting should not hold.
On the appointed day, more than 18 police officers, conveyed in three operational vehicles, were reportedly deployed to the entrance of the Magistrates’ Court premises.
The entrance gate had also been locked by court security personnel, reportedly acting on the instructions of the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Imo State.
Consequently, members who arrived for the meeting, including Mr. Agu, were denied access to the premises.
Undeterred, the requisitionists subsequently issued another notice, this time through Mr. Chidi Nworka, rescheduling the Extraordinary General Meeting for yesterday Thursday, October 15, 2026.
Ahead of the rescheduled meeting, allegations emerged that the Branch Chairman had made unsuccessful attempts to secure an ex parte court injunction restraining the meeting from proceeding.
It was further alleged that, following the unsuccessful moves, the matter was brought before the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mrs. Oyinkasola Badejo-Okunsanya.
In a letter reportedly issued in the early hours of October 15, written to the Chairman and copied to Mr. Chidi Nworka, Mr. Chinedu Agu, the General Secretary of NBA, the 3rd Vice President and the Treasurer, the NBA President directed that the requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting be allowed to proceed.
She also constituted a three-member delegation comprising the NBA General Secretary, Mr. Afam Okeke; the Third Vice President; and the National Treasurer to observe the proceedings in Owerri.
The intervention paved the way for the much-anticipated meeting to take place.
The meeting, however, was not without its own dramatic moments.
Following the Chairman’s opening remarks, members raised objections to his continued role as presiding officer and demanded that he recuse himself from conducting the proceedings.
Those supporting the motion argued that the Chairman, having previously declared the meeting unconstitutional and allegedly taken steps to frustrate its convocation, lacked the moral standing to preside over the same meeting.
They cited, among other developments, the aborted October 10 meeting, police intervention, the detention of Mr. Agu and the alleged plot to employ judicial means.
Despite the Chairman’s initial refusal to relinquish the chair, members maintained that proceedings would not continue unless he stepped aside.
Faced with sustained resistance, the Chairman eventually yielded and stepped aside from presiding over the meeting.
With proceedings continuing, members moved and supported a motion dissolving the five-man investigative committee previously constituted by the Chairman to examine the allegations involving him.
The meeting subsequently resolved to establish a fresh five-man Branch investigative committee to independently examine the receipt, management and disbursement of the ₦100 million donated by the Imo State Government.
The newly constituted committee is to carry out its assignment independently of the three-member committee set up by the NBA President.
The decision reportedly received overwhelming support, with approximately 99 per cent of members present voting in favour by a show of hands and no recorded vote in opposition.
The five members appointed are:
1. Mr. Chidi Nworka — Chairman
2. Mrs. V. C. Joshua — Secretary
3. Mr. F. C. Obinna — Member
4. Mr. Chukwurah Onuorah — Member
5. Ms. Chima Ezike — Member
The committee was specifically mandated to investigate the receipt and disbursement of the ₦100 million grant and submit its findings to the Branch at its General Meeting scheduled for October 31, 2026.
It will be recalled at this stage that a fresh Notice of Removal had already been served on the Chairman on September 28, 2026, and that the prescribed 21-day period for his response had not yet elapsed as of the October 15 meeting.
Accordingly, the issue of the Chairman’s removal is expected to come up for consideration at the Branch’s October 31, 2026 General Meeting, in accordance with Article 13 of the Uniform Bye-Law.
The meeting is also expected to receive the report of the newly constituted five-man investigative committee.
With both the investigation into the ₦100 million grant and the Chairman’s possible removal now approaching critical stages, the October 31 General Meeting promises to be another defining moment in the unfolding NBA Owerri leadership crisis.
For now, the central questions remain whether the new investigative committee will unravel the controversy surrounding the grant and whether the Branch can resolve its deepening leadership dispute through the procedures prescribed by its governing rules.
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