A fresh legal challenge has thrown the outcome of the just-concluded Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, national election into uncertainty, as a group of lawyers asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the swearing-in of President-elect Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, and other newly elected national officers.
The application, filed in a pending suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1471/2026, seeks an order of interim and perpetual injunction restraining the NBA, its agents, privies, and National Executive Committee from inaugurating Badejo-Okusanya — or any other person — into national office pending the final determination of the matter.
Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes to defeat fellow contestants Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, in the electronically conducted poll. She is scheduled to be sworn in on August 21, 2026, to succeed the outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN.
However, the exercise has been dogged by allegations of irregularities, including voter disenfranchisement, technical failures of the e-voting platform, and non-compliance with the NBA National Executive Committee-approved timetable.
TLawyershe plaintiff, the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners ALDRAP, filed the additional reliefs on July 20, 2026, against the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NBA as respondents.
ALDRAP is asking the court to join the following as necessary parties in the suit, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN (President-elect); Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN; Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN; Amnesty International, Nigeria office (or its representative); YIAGA Africa and The Transition Monitoring Group.
The plaintiff specifically requested “an order of interim/perpetual injunction restraining the 2nd respondent, NBA, its agents, privies, National Executive Committee, or any persons 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 has also been urged to order the maintenance of the status quo in the NBA leadership pending final judgment.
In its originating summons, ALDRAP had asked the Federal High Court to restrain the AGF from interfering in the NBA election; rule that neither the AGF nor the NBA can interfere in the conferment of the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria — a title ALDRAP introduced as an alternative to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria rank for non-litigation lawyers; and appoint the Nigerian Law Society and the Law Society of Lesotho as independent observers during the NBA election.
The group argues that the suit raises fundamental questions about the validity, legality, and constitutionality of the 2026 NBA election process, including the applicability of Section 134(2) of the 1999 Constitution to the poll.
Grounds for the Application
ALDRAP maintains that the persons and entities it seeks to join are necessary for the resolution of controversial issues surrounding the election, particularly its validity and the resulting leadership transition.
ALDRAP’s Administrative Secretary, Jesse Williams Amuga, expressed reservations about the conduct of the exercise. He noted that none of the accredited observers who monitored the election have shown willingness to publicly account for what they observed — a silence he said “raises concerns over the process.”
The NBA, Nigeria’s umbrella body for legal practitioners, adopted electronic voting in recent election cycles as part of reforms intended to broaden participation and reduce disputes. However, successive polls — including the 2020 and 2022 exercises — have been marred by complaints of disenfranchisement and platform malfunctions, fuelling recurring calls for reform of the association’s Electoral Committee processes.
The latest suit now sets the stage for a potential judicial showdown just weeks before the planned August 21 handover, with the outgoing Osigwe-led administration, the incoming leadership, and the wider legal community awaiting the court’s next move.
Crediblenewsng.com
