It was a legal battle on Thursday, October 22, 2026, as the legal team of the suspended Archbishop Ibezim locked horns against the legal team representing the Primate of the Church of Nigeria at the High Court, Awka.
The legal team of Archbishop Ibezim was led by the former Chancellor of Diocese of Awka, B. E. I. Nwofor, SAN who was recently sacked by Bishop Samuel Ezeofor, the Supervising Bishop of Awka Diocese, while the Primate’s defence was anchored by Chijioke Emeka, SAN who led a formidable team of over ten lawyers.
For over two hours, the lawyers traded heated arguments on which application commands priority attention. Nwofor was arguing that the court should hear his motion, which seeks to reverse the letter from the Primate directing Ibezim to proceed on six months’ leave and to stop Bishop Ezeofor from taking over the affairs of Diocese of Awka. On the other hand, the Primate’s lead counsel, Emeka, SAN, drew the attention of the Court to four different notices of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the case and the jurisdiction of the High Court. He argued that the issue of jurisdiction is fundamental and should be taken as priority so that the court does not act in vain.
Nwofor, in frustration was begging the court to make an order to enable Archbishop Ibezim to return to his office as the Primate’s letter was written after becoming aware of the pending litigation and amounts to contempt of court. In his brilliant response, counsel to the Primate informed the court that they appeared out of good intentions having heard about Ibezim’s case from the social media and that the Primate’s letter was made on 13th October without any knowledge of the suit. He stated that Bishop Ezeofor has already assumed office and the entire clergy of the Diocese of Awka declared their allegiance to the Primate and Church of Nigeria, and renewed their oath of Canonical Obedience to Bishop Ezeofor and the Church of Nigeria as led by the Most Rev. Dr. Henry Ndukuba, the Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria. He also queried why Nwofor who has said he will join the Church of England is still talking about Awka Diocese when he should be in England with Archbishop Ibezim, to which the courtroom was thrown into laughter.
The issue of proper service of the Court processes filed by Ibezim on the Primate in Abuja also became a matter of serious controversy.
The trial judge, Justice Obiora Nwabunike, who was very calm and firmly in control of the proceedings, intermittently advised the lawyers to reduce the tension and that the court is minded to hear all pending applications. The Judge said that he will not make any order on any of the several motions and preliminary objections which may be construed as prejudicial to the claims and counter claims of the parties.
At the end of the day, the Court adjourned the case to 26th November, 2026 for hearing of the motion by Nwofor and notices of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court.
Our correspondent noted that Ibezim’s lawyer, Nwofor SAN, came out from the court looking sad. Recall that Nwofor had also written Bishop Ezeofor asking for public apology and payment of N5bn for what he alleged is defamation by his sack by Ezeofor as Chancellor of Awka Diocese. Bishop Ezeofor has totally ignored Nwofor. A source close to the Supervising Bishop said that Bishop Ezeofor will not dignify Nwofor SAN with a response and that Nwofor should proceed to court instead of wasting his time in writing funny letters and seeking public attention.
The implication of what transpired in court is that Archbishop Ibezim remains on the leave ordered by the Primate while Bishop Ezeofor will continue to act as the Supervising Bishop of Awka Diocese until 26th November when the parties will return to court.
©️Mbanugo Onyeka Nelson
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