Confusion trails the just concluded national poll of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as a new twist emerged yesterday with a group of lawyers asking the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to stop the swearing in of the President-elect, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) and other newly elected national officers. Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes to defeat other competitors, Lateef Akangbe (SAN) and Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN). She is to be sworn in on August 21, 2026 when she would succeed the departing President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN). Executive Branch (1)
The poll, conducted electronically, has been plagued by allegations of anomalies, Daily Independent says.
The Abuja Federal High Court has been asked to stop the inauguration of the new NBA leadership in additional reliefs filed in a pending suit numbered FHC/ABJ/ CS/1471/2026, between the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), as plaintiff, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and the NBA, as respondents. The lawsuit is now threatening the outcome of the exercise.
In the originating summons filed initially, the plaintiff ALDRAP sought an order of the Abuja Federal High Court restraining the AGF from interfering in the NBA election and also restraining the AGF and the NBA from interfering in the conferment of the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria which it introduced as an alternative to the SAN title for non-litigation lawyers in Nigeria.
ALDRAP has also applied to the court for the approval to appoint the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), and the Law Society of Lesotho, as impartial observers in the NBA election.
In the further reliefs filed on July 20, 2026, the plaintiff asked the court to enlist freshly elected NBA President Badejo-Okusanya and several other people and entities as essential parties/respondents in the complaint. Others the plaintiff wants to join in the suit are: Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN), Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN), Amnesty International (Nigeria office or its agent), YIAGA and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG). The Executive Branch
Specifically, the plaintiff sought for “an order of interim/perpetual injunction restraining the 2nd respondent (NBA), it’s agents, privies, National Executive Committee, or any person claiming through them, from swearing in Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN), or any other person as president of the Nigerian Bar Association or into any other national office, until the final determination of this suit or further order of this court.”
The court was also sought to direct the maintenance of status quo in the leadership of the NBA till the final determination of the suit.
In stating the grounds for the application, the lawyers’ association argued that it has a live suit pending before the court challenging the validity, legality and constitutionality of the processes leading to the 2026 NBA election, which included issues of voter disenfranchisement, technical failures of the e-voting platform, non-compliance with NBA NEC-approved timetable and the applicability of constitutional principles under Section 134(2) of the 1999 constitution.
It said the persons and entities it seeks to join as parties in the litigation are necessary for the final adjudication of disputed issues surrounding the election, especially its validity and the leadership transition that it has brought on.
Jesse Williams Amuga, Administrative Secretary of ALDRAP, was quoted to have expressed doubts on the conduct of the NBA election.
Amuga also noted that none of the observers who monitored the exercise is ready to give an account of what they saw, a circumstance which he claimed raises worries concerning the procedure.
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