*As Matter Adjourns To April 15
The High Court of Justice, Oyo State, sitting in Ibadan, on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Egbe Amofin O’odua against the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other respondents to April 15, 2026. The adjournment was to allow all pending applications, including a Preliminary Objection filed by the respondents, to be heard together.
In the suit, Egbe Amofin O’odua is asking the court to restrain the NBA and other respondents from recognising or processing the nomination of any candidate other than its consensus nominee and to effectively recognise Muyiwa Akinboro, SAN, popularly known as Aare Muyiwa Akinboro, as the sole presidential candidate for the election.
When the matter was called on Tuesday, the claimant appeared with a large and formidable legal team made up of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria and several other senior lawyers, numbering about seventeen in total. The team was led by Ali Kazeem, SAN.
All the respondents in the case were represented by Abdul Mohammed, SAN, who informed the court that the respondents had filed a Preliminary Objection challenging the competence of the suit.
During the proceedings, counsel made submissions regarding the various processes already filed in the matter, including the Preliminary Objection. However, it emerged that the objection and other applications before the court were not yet ripe for hearing, as some responses and procedural requirements were still outstanding.
Following the exchanges between counsel, the court held that it would be more appropriate to hear the Preliminary Objection together with other pending applications once all processes had been properly filed and exchanged by the parties.
The court consequently adjourned the matter to April 15, 2026, for the hearing of the Preliminary Objection and all other pending applications in the suit.
Earlier, the High Court had granted an ex parte interim injunction restraining the NBA, its officers, organs, committees, agents, and anyone acting on their behalf from recognising or processing the nomination of any candidate other than the consensus candidate presented by Egbe Amofin O’odua. The order was issued on February 24, 2026, by Hon. Justice Y. S. Adekunle under Suit No. I/205/2026, Court No. 17.
The defendants include the NBA Trustees, NBA President Mazi Afam Josiah Osigwe, SAN, the Body of Benchers, the General Council of the Bar, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Aham Ejelam, SAN, Chairman of the NBA Electoral Committee.
Egbe Amofin O’odua is seeking declarations affirming its sole right to present a presidential candidate from the Western Zone, compelling compliance with NBA constitutional zoning arrangements, recognition of its candidate, and restraining the NBA from accepting or recognising any other candidate.