ALDRAP Seeks Court Order to Stop NBA President-Elect’s Swearing-In
ALDRAP has asked a Federal High Court to halt the swearing-in of the NBA president-elect pending the outcome of its legal challenge.
The Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has filed a suit 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 of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1471/2026, ALDRAP also joined the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as a respondent. The association is asking the court to issue an injunction restraining the NBA, its National Executive Committee and other representatives from swearing in the new leadership until the case is determined.
The NBA election dispute centres on allegations that the electoral process was flawed. ALDRAP claimed the case challenges the validity and constitutionality of the 2026 election, citing alleged voter disenfranchisement, technical problems with the electronic voting platform, non-compliance with the NBA National Executive Committee’s approved timetable and constitutional issues relating to the election.
The association also asked the court to maintain the current leadership of the NBA until the legal proceedings are concluded.
ALDRAP’s Administrative Secretary, Jesse Amuga, questioned the credibility of the election process, expressing concern that independent observers had not released reports on the exercise.
“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.”
The association has also requested that the court add Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, Amnesty International, YIAGA and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) as parties to the case.
Badejo-Okusanya won the disputed election with 12,317 votes and is scheduled to be sworn in on August 21, 2026, succeeding Afam Osigwe, SAN, as NBA president.
How important is judicial review in resolving disputes over professional association elections?
Comments are closed.