NBA election disrupted as voting portal fails, group demands Osigwe’s resignation

The election for the next President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was disrupted in the early hours of Saturday after the online voting platform reportedly developed technical problems shortly after voting commenced.

The development triggered widespread complaints from lawyers, with a group within the association calling on the NBA President, Mr. Afam Osigwe, SAN, to resign over what it described as a failure of leadership.

Three candidates are contesting the presidency of the association: Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, and Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya.

In a statement, the Advocates for Rule of Law & Credibility described the failed election as a “national embarrassment,” alleging that the online voting process collapsed after members had waited through the night to vote.

According to the group, the election portal experienced several technical failures, including delayed server boot-up, navigation errors, missing photographs of two presidential candidates, misspelt names on the ballot and the eventual shutdown of the voting platform without prior notice or explanation.

The group maintained that the incident went beyond a mere technical glitch and reflected what it described as a serious leadership failure.

It argued that the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) could not advocate transparency and accountability in public elections while presiding over what it described as a flawed electoral process.

The group also expressed concern that lawyers who stayed awake to participate in the election were left disappointed after being unable to cast their votes.

Consequently, it called on Osigwe to resign, alleging that the election had failed in terms of technology, logistics, accuracy and communication.

The group insisted that Nigerian lawyers deserved a transparent, credible and verifiable electoral process.

Reacting separately, an Akure-based legal practitioner, Dr. Olusegun F. Akeredolu, described the suspension of the election as a major setback that had undermined confidence in the credibility of the NBA’s electoral process.

According to him, the technical failures, procedural irregularities and other challenges that characterised the exercise had diminished the image of the association.

Akeredolu called for the immediate postponement of the election to allow for a comprehensive review of the process and the introduction of measures that would guarantee transparency, fairness and equal treatment of all eligible voters.

He also urged the immediate dissolution of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) and the constitution of a fresh, independent and credible committee to conduct a free, fair and transparent election.

The legal practitioner further called on the NBA President to apologise to members of the association for what he described as the avoidable embarrassment, inconvenience and loss of confidence arising from the conduct of the election.

According to him, the NBA must continue to uphold the principles of the rule of law, accountability and institutional integrity.