Wike Says the NBA Has Become a Political Party, Because Apparently Nigeria Needed One More

Nyesom Wike has looked at the Nigerian Bar Association and apparently decided that the lawyers have been spending too much time behaving like lawyers and not enough time behaving like politicians.

The FCT Minister has accused the NBA of becoming partisan, arguing that the association has abandoned its traditional role as an impartial defender of the rule of law and constitutionalism. He particularly took issue with the NBA’s 2026 conference in Port Harcourt, which he described as a political gathering where opposition politicians were given room to sell themselves.

And honestly, this is Nigeria, so the irony is doing overtime.

A lawyer accusing lawyers of becoming political is already interesting. But when the lawyer in question is Nyesom Wike, a man who has never exactly treated politics like a quiet hobby, you almost want to pull up a chair and ask, “Sir, are we discussing the NBA or are we discussing everybody who isn't supporting your preferred political arrangement?”

Wike said he did not attend the NBA conference because he does not attend “jamborees” where “traders” are in charge, and called the gathering a “complete flop.”

Of course, the NBA's own account of recent events tells a rather different story. Former NBA President Afam Osigwe said the association spent his tenure defending judicial independence, challenging executive excesses, opposing the suspension of democratic institutions in Rivers State and resisting attempts to interfere with its internal electoral process.

So now we have two very Nigerian versions of the same thing.

Wike says: “You people are political.”

The NBA says: “We are defending democracy.”

And Nigerians are somewhere in the middle, wondering whether the rule of law now comes with party membership.

But perhaps the bigger question is whether professional bodies in Nigeria can criticise government without being accused of having political motives. If every criticism becomes “partisanship,” eventually the only acceptable professional opinion will be one that arrives with no opinion at all.

And that would be quite convenient.

Because imagine the NBA releasing a statement tomorrow saying, “After careful consideration, we have decided that everything is fine.”

At least everybody would agree.

Except, of course, whoever is being arrested.