NBA election: Lawyers seek court order to halt Badejo-Okusanya’s swearing-in

NBA election: Lawyers seek court order to halt Badejo-Okusanya’s swearing-in

The legal dispute over the outcome of the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election has deepened as the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) filed a fresh application before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop the swearing-in of NBA President-elect Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) and other newly elected national officers.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1471/2026, ALDRAP also joined the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as a respondent, asking the court to preserve the current leadership of the NBA until all legal issues surrounding the election are resolved.

The plaintiff is seeking an interim and perpetual injunction restraining the NBA, its National Executive Committee (NEC), officers, agents and representatives from swearing in Badejo-Okusanya or any other elected national officer pending the final determination of the substantive suit. It also requested an order directing the association to maintain the status quo until the court reaches a decision.

According to court documents, ALDRAP is challenging the validity, legality and constitutionality of the processes that produced the outcome of the 2026 NBA election. The association alleged that the election was affected by voter disenfranchisement, technical failures of the electronic voting platform, non-compliance with the NBA National Executive Council (NEC)-approved timetable and constitutional issues relating to Section 134(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

The association argued that allowing the newly elected officials to assume office before the court determines the case could render the proceedings ineffective and undermine any eventual judgment. It maintained that preserving the current leadership would protect the integrity of the judicial process while the case is being heard.

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In an additional application filed before the court, ALDRAP requested that Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN), fellow contestants Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) and Lateef Akangbe (SAN), as well as Amnesty International, Yiaga Africa and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), be joined as necessary parties in the suit.

The plaintiff argued that the inclusion of the newly elected officials, election observers and other stakeholders is essential to enable the court to comprehensively determine all issues surrounding the conduct and outcome of the election.

ALDRAP’s Administrative Secretary, Jesse Amuga, also questioned the transparency of the electoral process, expressing concern that none of the domestic or international observer groups that monitored the election had publicly released reports detailing their findings.

According to Amuga, the absence of observer reports has raised questions about the credibility of the electronic voting infrastructure deployed for the election. He argued that the silence of the observer organisations has fuelled public concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.

The latest application follows an earlier suit in which ALDRAP sought to restrain the Attorney-General of the Federation from interfering in the NBA election. The association also asked the court to declare that neither the AGF nor the NBA should interfere with the conferment of the Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel introduced by ALDRAP as an alternative recognition for non-litigation lawyers.

The legal action comes only days after the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) declared Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) winner of the presidential election.

According to the official results announced by the electoral committee, Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes to defeat Lateef Akangbe (SAN), who polled 7,934 votes, and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN), who received 5,855 votes.

Her victory makes her the 33rd President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association and one of the few women elected to lead Nigeria’s foremost professional body for lawyers.

She is scheduled to be sworn in on August 21, 2026, when she is expected to succeed the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), unless the Federal High Court grants the interim relief sought by ALDRAP.

The case is expected to test the legal validity of the election process and could have significant implications for the leadership transition within the Nigerian Bar Association, as lawyers across the country await the court’s decision on the applications.

NBA election: Lawyers seek court order to halt Badejo-Okusanya’s swearing-in