NBA Ibadan Branch Boycotts Oyo Judiciary New Legal Year Ceremony
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan Branch, has announced a unanimous decision to boycott all activities and ceremonies organised by the Oyo State Judiciary to mark the 2026/2027 New Legal Year, citing what it described as recent administrative directives by the leadership of the state judiciary.
The decision was contained in a special notice dated October 3, 2026, following a general meeting of the branch at which members deliberated on the issues surrounding the forthcoming New Legal Year ceremonies. According to the notice, made available to BarristerNG, the branch resolved to withdraw from the judiciary’s celebrations and instead hold its own independent New Legal Year ceremony.
The branch said the decision was based on its conviction that the administration of justice depends on a “sacred symbiosis” between the Bench and the Bar, stressing that neither should function as a master over the other because both are “co-equal custodians of the rule of law.”
At the centre of the dispute, according to the Branch, is the alleged unilateral decision by the Oyo State Judiciary leadership to remove the NBA Branch Chairman’s address from the New Legal Year ceremony.
The branch said the annual New Legal Year ceremony should serve as an institution for accountability, reflection and constructive discourse, rather than merely a ceremonial judicial event.
It explained that the address of the Branch Chairman had traditionally provided an avenue for the Bar to present observations on the justice system, advocate improvements in judicial administration and propose remedies for challenges affecting the administration of justice in Oyo State.
“The unilateral decision by the Judiciary leadership to excise and suppress the Bar Chairman’s address is an existential affront to our collective dignity,” the branch stated, arguing that denying the Bar its traditional voice at a state ceremony would reduce lawyers from equal partners in the justice system to passive spectators.
READ THE FULL NOTICE BELOW
NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION
(IBADAN BRANCH)
3rd day of October, 2026
Dear distinguished Learned Silks, Benchers, Leaders of the Bar, and Esteemed Members,
SPECIAL NOTICE: – UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION TO BOYCOTT THE OYO STATE JUDICIARY 2026/2027 NEW LEGAL YEAR CEREMONIES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF ALTERNATIVE BAR CELEBRATION
At the General Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan Branch, convened today, the 3rd day of October, 2026, the Bar deliberated extensively on recent administrative directives emanating from the leadership of the Oyo State Judiciary.
Following rigorous exchange and sobering analysis, the house unanimously resolved to boycott all activities, ceremonies, and proceedings, pertaining to the 2026/2027 New Legal Year organized by the Oyo State Judiciary.
This resolution is premised on the conviction of the Bar that the administration of justice is built upon a sacred symbiosis between the Bench and the Bar. Neither can function effectively as a master over the other; both are co-equal custodians of the rule of law.
The annual New Legal Year ceremony is fundamentally an institution of accountability, reflection, and constructive discourse, not a mere judicial pageant. Traditionally, the address of the Branch Chairman serves as the canonical medium through which the Bar presents systemic observations, advocates for judicial efficiency, and projects remedies for the administration of justice in Oyo State.
The unilateral decision by the Judiciary leadership to excise and suppress the Bar Chairman’s address is an existential affront to our collective dignity. To deny the Bar its historic voice during a state ceremony is to relegate legal practitioners from equal partners in the temple of justice to mere passive spectators. Silence in the face of such structural marginalization would set a perilous precedent for the future of our profession.
Hence, to celebrate the commencement of the 2026/2027 New Legal Year on our own terms, with unyielding independence and dignity, the Premier Branch will hold its independent New Legal Year Celebration: –
Event: – NBA Ibadan Branch 2026/2027 New Legal Year Ceremony,
Date: – Monday, 5th October, 2026,
Time: – 10:00 AM Prompt,
Venue: – Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, Bar Centre, NTC Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria,
Dress Code: – Fully Robed (Wig and Gown),
Distinguished members, principled dissent requires courage, but unity renders it formidable. Our collective absence from the Judiciary’s ceremonies, and our resolute presence at the Bar Centre, will send an unmistakable message, that is: – the Bar will never surrender its constitutional role as the conscience of the legal system.
History measures a Bar not by the ease of its compliance, but by the firmness of its convictions. Let posterity record that when the voice of the Bar was threatened with erasure, the Ibadan Bar stood as one, unshaken, unbroken, dignified, and unapologetic.
Yours faithfully,
Raheed Muhammad-Ali Khan, Esq., MNIM, ChMC, LL.M,
Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Ibadan Branch
