The Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, has announced a complete boycott of activities organised by the Oyo State Judiciary to mark the commencement of the 2026/2027 New Legal Year.
The decision followed a general meeting of the Branch held on October 3, during which members considered what they described as recent administrative directives from the leadership of the Oyo State Judiciary.
The Branch says the immediate controversy concerns the exclusion of its Chairman, Adekola Kareem, from delivering the traditional Bar address during the New Legal Year ceremony.
Rather than attend the judiciary’s programme, members resolved to organise an independent New Legal Year ceremony at the Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, Bar Centre in Ibadan on October 5.
Bar says its voice cannot be reduced
In a notice issued by its Publicity Secretary, Raheed Muhammad-Ali Khan, the Branch framed the disagreement as an institutional issue rather than a personal dispute over speaking time.
It argued that the administration of justice depends upon a functional partnership between the Bench and the Bar.
According to the Branch, neither institution should treat the other as subordinate because both contribute to the administration and preservation of the rule of law.
The Branch described the annual New Legal Year ceremony as more than a ceremonial event.
It said the occasion traditionally provides an opportunity for lawyers to present observations about court administration, judicial efficiency and problems encountered by practitioners and litigants.
For NBA Ibadan, the Branch Chairman’s address is the principal mechanism through which those concerns are formally communicated to the judiciary.
Parallel ceremony
The Branch announced that its independent event would hold at 10 a.m. at the Bar Centre, with members expected to attend fully robed.
The move effectively creates two separate observances of the opening of the legal year: the judiciary’s official programme and the Bar’s independent ceremony.
The Branch insists that its decision is intended to protect the institutional dignity and historical role of the legal profession.
Its statement declared that the Bar would not surrender what it regards as its legitimate voice in discussions affecting the justice system.
Bigger issue for Bench-Bar relations
The disagreement raises a broader question about the purpose of New Legal Year ceremonies.
Across Nigeria, the events often provide platforms for Chief Judges, Attorneys-General, NBA leaders and senior members of the profession to review developments in the administration of justice and identify reform priorities.
They are therefore not simply ceremonial court functions.
NBA Ibadan’s objection is that removing the Branch Chairman’s address weakens the accountability and dialogue dimension of the event.
The Oyo Judiciary’s detailed position on the Branch’s complaint was not set out in the sources reviewed by LegalLinkz.
That means the Branch’s characterization of the decision should be understood as its own institutional position.
What is clear, however, is that the disagreement has now escalated from an administrative dispute into an open boycott by one of the country’s prominent NBA branches.
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Source: Premium Times
