Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa SAN, lead counsel to the four Branch Chairmen challenging the composition of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, has written a strongly worded letter to ECNBA Chairman Aham Ejelam SAN and Secretary Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa Esq., demanding the immediate withdrawal of ECNBA Notice No. 6 issued on March 16, 2026, which called for nominations for the 2026 NBA national officers’ elections.
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The letter, dated March 17, 2026, and issued from the chambers of J.S. Okutepa SAN and Co. with offices in Abuja and Makurdi, was received and stamped by the ECNBA on the same day. It describes the issuance of the notice as spiteful, disrespectful, and contemptuous conduct that deliberately undermines the authority of the High Court of Justice, Oyo State, sitting in Ibadan, where the suit challenging the Electoral Committee’s composition is pending.
Okutepa reminded Ejelam and Nassarawa that on March 4, 2026, Justice G. A. Opayinka of the High Court of Justice, Oyo State, Ibadan Judicial Division, made orders in Suit No. I/221/2026 specifically restraining them and the other 7th to 9th respondents from parading or holding themselves out as Chairman, Secretary, or members of the ECNBA, or from performing, undertaking, or participating in any act, step, or process whatsoever in furtherance of the conduct of the 2026 NBA national officers’ election, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
The same orders restrained NBA President Afam Osigwe SAN from taking any steps whatsoever toward the constitution and composition of the Electoral Committee, or from participating in, supervising, influencing, or otherwise interfering in any manner whatsoever with the conduct of the 2026 election pending the hearing of the interlocutory injunction application.
Okutepa stated that the enrolled order of March 4, 2026, was attached to the letter as Annexure JSO, noting that Ejelam and Nassarawa were duly served with the orders and, not being satisfied with them, caused eminent Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other lawyers to file an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, on March 9, 2026. A copy of the notice and grounds of appeal was also attached as Annexure JSO1.
The notice of appeal, filed by J.J. Usman SAN of Ojochogwu Chambers, Abuja, on behalf of the appellants — Ejelam SAN, Nassarawa Esq., Muhammad M. Nuhu Esq., Uju Okafor Esq., and Ume Maduka Esq. — challenged the entire decision of the trial court on multiple grounds, including that the learned trial judge erred in law and acted without jurisdiction, without territorial jurisdiction, and without subject matter jurisdiction.
The appeal, Okutepa pointed out, demonstrates that the appellants were fully aware of the court’s orders and had exercised their constitutional right of appeal against them.
Despite this awareness and the pending appeal, Okutepa accused Ejelam and Nassarawa of deliberately issuing ECNBA Notice No. 6 on March 16 in the most spiteful, disrespectful, and contemptuous manner, purporting to act as Chairman and Secretary of the ECNBA — doing the very thing the court’s orders prohibited them from doing.
“It has come to the notice of our clients and indeed all Nigerian lawyers, that you and Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa Esq., in the most spiteful, disrespectful and contemptuous manner while purporting to act as Chairman and Secretary of ECNBA of the Nigerian Bar Association deliberately stole a match and then allowed yourselves to be used, or chose to deliberately undermine the authorities of courts to which this matter have been submitted for adjudication,” the letter stated.
Okutepa drew attention to the fact that as lawyers and indeed one of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria of considerable age at the Bar and the Inner Bar, Ejelam and Nassarawa have unqualified duties and obligations not only to respect the pending court process and orders but to avoid doing anything that could undermine or give the appearance of undermining the powers and authorities of courts before which the matter is pending.
“The orders in annexure JSO have not been set aside. There is no order staying its execution. There is no doubt that you are parties to the orders in annexure JSO hereof. You are aware of the orders; hence you appealed against it,” the letter stated.
Okutepa cited several Supreme Court and Court of Appeal authorities to support his position that parties who have submitted their dispute to a court of law are not permitted to take extra-judicial steps to undermine court orders or pending proceedings.
He cited the Supreme Court’s decision in Registered Trustees Apostolic Church v. Olowoleni (1990) 6 NWLR (Pt. 158) 514 at 537, where the court held that once parties have turned their dispute over to the court for determination, the right to resort to self-help ends, and it is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step during the pending suit which may have the effect of foisting upon the court a situation of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the court is being used as a mere subterfuge to tie the hands of one party while the other helps himself extra-judicially.
He also cited the Court of Appeal’s decision in Ezegbu v. F.A.T.B. Ltd. (1992) 1 NWLR (Pt. 220) 699 at 736, where Justice Kalgo JCA held that all judicial decisions support the proposition that none of the parties in litigation before a court of law is allowed to take the law into his own hands and foist a fait accompli on the court, thereby rendering it impossible for the court to arrive at a decision one way or the other on the merits.
He further cited the decision in Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu v. Military Governor of Lagos State & Ors (No. 1) (1985) 2 NWLR (Pt. 10) 806 at pp. 821-827, where the Court of Appeal invoked the principle of mandatory injunction to restore the applicant to possession which was wrested from him during the pendency of litigation.
Okutepa issued a 24-hour ultimatum, demanding that Ejelam and Nassarawa withdraw and cause to be withdrawn ECNBA Notice No. 6 issued under their hands on March 16, 2026, in what he described as complete disregard of the orders of the High Court of Oyo State, the pending processes before the court, and the notice and grounds of appeal which they themselves caused to be filed.
“In the most unlikely event that you failed, refused and or neglected to do so, we shall perfect the instruction of our clients and proceed against both of you before the appropriate authorities, including but not limited to filing contempt proceedings against you,” the letter warned.
Okutepa concluded by expressing confidence that as learned gentlemen properly schooled in the concept of the rule of law and due process, Ejelam and Nassarawa would not allow themselves to be used as weapons against the legal armoury of the court.
“The legal profession for which you are part and parcel of cannot continued to act with audacity of impunity as both of you have exhibited in this case by the issuance of the ECNBA Notice No. 6 of 16th March 2026, when the orders in annexure JSO prohibited you from doing so,” the letter stated.
The demand from Okutepa SAN stands in direct contrast to the position taken by Abuja-based lawyer Uthman Isa Tochukwu Esq., who had earlier argued on the same day that the ex parte order granted on March 4 had automatically lapsed after seven days under Order 49 Rule 3(3) of the Oyo State High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2022, and that there was therefore no subsisting order to defy when ECNBA issued Notice No. 6.
LETTER TO MR. AHAM EJILAM, SAN AND IBRAHIM ALIYU NASARAWA ESQ.The conflicting legal positions highlight the deepening controversy over the NBA’s 2026 electoral process and set the stage for what promises to be a fiercely contested hearing when the matter returns to the Ibadan court on April 15, 2026.
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