The Nigerian Bar Association don elect Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as di next president. She poll 12,317 votes to win di election wey happen through electronic voting for 24 hours. Mrs Badejo-Okusanya na di only female among di three presidential candidates.
But di election no come without wahala. One of di candidates, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb, confirm say e no fit cast im ballot because of issues with di association’s electronic voting platform. Akangbe complaint come as lawyers from multiple branches across di country report similar difficulties accessing di Electoral Committee of di Nigerian Bar Association voting portal, receiving authentication credentials, and successfully submitting ballots.
Di ECNBA acknowledge a cyberattack on its voting infrastructure at di start of di day, announce a delay to di commencement of voting before declaring di platform restored. Di committee maintain say di integrity of di electoral process remain intact. But lawyers describe say dem no fit complete di authentication process, no receive OTP after entering dem Supreme Court Numbers, and encounter error messages after multiple attempts. Some report discrepancies between di number of votes dem witness being cast and di figures displayed on di public election dashboard.
Akangbe, one of three Senior Advocates contesting di Western-zoned presidency, confirm im experience for a statement. “I attempted to vote and I could not,” e say. “I am a presidential candidate in this election. If I cannot vote, I have serious concerns about how many other members across 129 branches are facing the same experience.” Fellow candidate Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, also indicate say e encounter difficulties casting im ballot, a development wey intensify scrutiny of di process.
Di LOA Campaign Organisation, for a separate statement, say dem don receive a significant volume of complaints from members for multiple branches and call on di ECNBA to immediately publish a verified account of di number of members wey no fit vote, provide a remedy for affected members before any results dem declare, and confirm whether votes already submitted were impacted by di reported dashboard discrepancies. “An election in which the candidates cannot vote is not an election that can credibly claim to represent the will of the membership,” di statement read.
Di ECNBA no issue a detailed response to di specific complaints at di time of publication, but dem reiterate dem commitment to a free, fair, and transparent election and direct members to dem official communication channels. Di election between Akangbe, Akinboro, and Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN, na one of di most consequential for di association recent history, wey don already be preceded by months of litigation, allegations of institutional bias, and sustained debate about di reliability of di electronic voting process. With over 80,000 members across 129 branches eligible to participate, di scale of any access failure carry significant implications for di legitimacy of whichever outcome di ECNBA eventually declare.
