The build-up to the 2026 National Officers’ Election of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been thrown into fresh controversy after a High Court in Oyo State issued a dramatic order halting activities related to the electoral process.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Justice G. A. Opayinka of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan granted an interim injunction restraining the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) and the NBA President, Mazi Afam Josiah Osigwe, SAN, from taking further steps in connection with the election.
The order followed a Motion Ex-Parte filed by four lawyers, Ibrahim Lawal, Raymond Oki, Omotan Olusola Ogunmodede, and Chief Gabriel Ojo Adekunle Ijalana, who challenged aspects of the electoral process and the constitution of the ECNBA.
The applicants joined as defendants the Nigerian Bar Association; its President Afam Osigwe, SAN; the Body of Benchers, and the General Council of the Bar, represented through the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Also listed as defendants are members of the ECNBA: Aham Ejelam, SAN; Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa, Esq.; Muhamad M. Nuhu, Esq.; Uju Okafor, Esq.; and Ume Maduka, Esq.
In the interim order, the court restrained the 5th to 9th defendants from parading themselves as Chairman, Secretary, or members of the ECNBA, or performing any act connected with the conduct of the 2026 NBA National Officers’ Election.
Justice Opayinka further directed that the NBA President Afam Osigwe must not take any step whatsoever toward the constitution or composition of the ECNBA, nor participate in supervising, influencing, or interfering with the electoral process pending the determination of a Motion on Notice seeking a substantive interlocutory injunction.
The application was argued by Tunji Ogunrinde, SAN, alongside R. O. Solahudeen, Esq., counsel to the claimants.
Legal observers say the ruling could significantly disrupt preparations for the NBA’s 2026 elections, which are expected to hold in about four months.
With the ECNBA now restrained and the NBA President barred from further actions relating to the committee’s composition, the decision is already raising serious constitutional and political questions within the Bar about the fate of the election timetable and the future of the electoral process.
The court adjourned the matter to 12 March, 2026 for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.(Lawandsocietymagazine)
