The controversy trailing the just concluded national election of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has taken a new twist as a group of lawyers has asked the Abuja Federal High Court to stop the swearing in of the President-elect, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, and other newly elected national officers.
Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes to defeat the other contestants, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN. She is slated to be sworn in on August 21, 2026, when she will take over from the outgoing President, Afam Osigwe, SAN.
Allegations of irregularities have trailed the poll, which was conducted through electronic format.
A lawsuit is now threatening the outcome of the exercise as the Abuja Federal High Court has been asked to halt 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.
In the initial originating summons, the plaintiff, ALDRAP, had asked the Abuja Federal High Court to stop the AGF from interfering in the NBA election, and also order that the AGF and the NBA cannot interfere 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 had also asked the court to appoint the Nigerian Law Society, NLS, and the Law Society of Lesotho, to act as independent observers during the NBA election.
In the additional reliefs filed on July 20, 2026, the plaintiff asked the court to join newly elected NBA President Badejo-Okusanya and some other persons and entities as necessary parties/respondents in the suit.
Others the plaintiff seeks to join in the suit are Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, Amnesty International (Nigeria office or it’s representative), YIAGA and the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG.
The plaintiff specifically asked for “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 was, in the same vein, asked to order the maintenance of status quo in the leadership of the NBA pending the final determination of the suit.
Stating grounds for the application, the lawyers’ association maintained that it has a live suit pending before the court, which is challenging the validity, legality and the constitutionality of the processes leading to the 2026 NBA election, including 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 added that the presence of the persons and entities it seeks to join as parties in the suit is required for the final determination of controversial issues surrounding the election, particularly its validity and the resulting leadership transition.
Administrative Secretary of ALDRAP, Jesse Williams Amuga, Esq, expressed reservations at the conduct of the NBA election. Amuga observed that none of the observers who monitored the exercise are willing to give an account of what they observed, a development which he said raises concerns over the process.
Amuga said, “Twenty-four hours after the alleged NBA elections, not a single international or domestic election observer has released any report to corroborate their observations of the e-voting infrastructure that both the NBA President and the ECNBA alleged that they deployed…Amnesty, YIAGA and TMG are afraid of soiling their respective reputations. If no independent observers are commenting on the alleged NBA elections, that speaks volumes.”
