Thousands of lawyers across Nigeria began voting electronically on Saturday in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national elections, with three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) contesting the association’s presidency amid legal disputes, allegations of interference, and concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.
The election will produce a successor to the outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), with Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN), Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN) and Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) vying for the office.
The presidency has been zoned to the Southwest following the decision of the Midwest Bar to opt out after producing two recent NBA presidents — Augustine Alegeh (SAN) and Olumide Akpata.
Akinboro, a Life Bencher, previously served as NBA General Secretary and later as Secretary and Chairman of the NBA Abuja Branch.
Akangbe is a former Chairman of the NBA Lagos Branch, former Chairman of the NBA Finance Committee and a member of the Body of Benchers.
Badejo-Okusanya previously served as General Counsel in the Lagos State Governor’s Office during the Babatunde Fashola administration and chaired the Planning Committee for the NBA’s 2024 Annual General Conference.
The Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) has published the final voters’ register containing more than 30,000 eligible lawyers after months of verifying members’ eligibility. Only lawyers who paid their practising fees and branch dues within the stipulated period are eligible to vote.
Despite concerns raised after the Managing Director of the election service provider was arrested, the NBA National Executive Council (NEC) on Friday confirmed his release and insisted that the election would proceed as scheduled.
Following an emergency virtual meeting, the NEC unanimously resolved that the 2026 NBA National Officers and General Council of the Bar elections would be held as planned.
According to the NBA, the ECNBA assured members that all logistical and operational arrangements had been completed and that there was no justification for postponing the exercise.
The council also condemned the arrest and detention of the election service provider’s Managing Director, describing it as disturbing, while urging all authorities to respect the independence of the association and refrain from interfering in its electoral process.
The election has, however, been overshadowed by legal challenges and calls for postponement.
Egbe Amofin Oodua had earlier secured a court order seeking to stop the other presidential candidates after endorsing Akinboro as its sole candidate. However, the Court of Appeal later set aside the order.
On Friday, the group renewed its opposition to the election, calling for its suspension to allow reforms to the electronic voting process.
Chairman of its Governing Council, Isiaka Olagunju (SAN), accused the NBA leadership of abandoning an earlier agreement with stakeholders to postpone the poll.
He also questioned the integrity of the current electronic voting system, alleging that email-based verification remains vulnerable to manipulation through compromised email accounts, altered voter profiles and intercepted one-time passwords.
The group proposed that future NBA elections should adopt verification linked to National Identification Numbers (NIN) and registered telephone numbers to improve transparency.
Olagunju warned that proceeding without implementing the proposed reforms could undermine confidence in the association’s electoral process.
Also on Friday, the Atiku Media Office alleged attempts by unnamed individuals to influence the outcome of the NBA election through the use of security agencies and the courts to favour a preferred candidate.
The media office claimed the alleged interference formed part of a broader effort to weaken democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections and called for respect for the constitutional independence of the ECNBA.
The NBA leadership also dismissed documents circulating on social media claiming that the Attorney-General of the Federation had directed the suspension of the election, describing the reports as false.
To strengthen confidence in the process, the NBA invited local and international election observers, including Yiaga Africa, the European Union, the United States and United Kingdom missions, and the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), to observe the electronic voting exercise.
Voting will be conducted entirely online through the ECNBA platform. Only lawyers whose names appear on the final voters’ register will be allowed to vote using unique credentials issued by the electoral committee.
The ECNBA said each eligible lawyer would vote once, while complaints relating to technical issues would be handled through its helpdesk.
Campaign activities have also been prohibited during the voting period, with the electoral committee expressing confidence that technological safeguards put in place will ensure a credible, transparent and secure election.
Results are expected after the close of voting, following collation and verification by the electoral committee.
(The Whistler)