Court Dismisses Oyekan’s Suit Against Nigerian Baptist Convention
•By Oyeniyi Awojoodu
IBADAN – The Nigerian Baptist Convention has expressed satisfaction with the judgement of the Oyo State High Court which dismissed a lawsuit filed by Emmanuel Oyewole Oyekan and four others against the Convention and its leadership.
Justice O.A. Adetujoye, presiding at Court 11 of the Oyo State High Court Complex, Ring Road, Ibadan, dismissed the suit marked 1/710/2024, which challenged the authority of the Convention and its President, Rev. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji, to derobe Oyekan and nine other pastors, and to disfellowship Ajegunle Baptist Church.
The action, filed in June 2024 by Oyekan alongside Rev. Dr. C.D. Oluwabukola, Deacon I.O. Akanmu, Mrs. B.D. Oyewole, and Sister Olajoke Akinyemi, contested the Convention’s disciplinary actions conveyed in a letter dated June 10, 2024.
While the suit was pending, some members of Ajegunle Baptist Church and six pastors from its daughter churches publicly distanced themselves from the plaintiffs, who lead a breakaway group identified as “New Glory Baptist Church.” Following this development, the Convention rescinded its decisions regarding the six pastors and the church.
The defendants, represented by the law firm of Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) & Co., filed a statement of defence along with a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction. The objection argued that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to sue, as they were no longer recognized members of the Convention, having registered “New Glory Baptist Church” as a separate legal entity with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Arguments on the preliminary objection were heard on March 18, 2025. In his ruling delivered on Thursday, June 19, 2025, Justice Adetujoye upheld the objection and dismissed the case.
Reacting to the judgement, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Seyon Idowu Koshoedo, in a statement issued in Ibadan on Saturday titled ‘Justice Adetujoye Dismisses Oyekan’s Case Against Nigerian Baptist Convention’, said, “Thus, all controversies over Ajegunle Baptist Church have been resolved in favour of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.”