Badejo-Okusanya Leads NBA Presidential Race as Electronic Voting Controversy Overshadows Poll

Badejo-Okusanya Leads NBA Presidential Race as Electronic Voting Controversy Overshadows Poll

ABUJA — Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has emerged as the frontrunner in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, taking an early lead in results released on Saturday despite widespread controversy over the conduct of the electronic poll.

Live results published on the election portal showed Badejo-Okusanya securing 9,323 votes (45.43 percent), ahead of Lateef Akangbe, SAN, who polled 6,385 votes (31.12 percent), while Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, garnered 4,812 votes (23.45 percent). A total of 20,520 votes had been cast at the time of reporting.

If the current trend is sustained, Badejo-Okusanya would become only the second woman to serve as president of the NBA, marking a significant milestone in the association's history.

The election portal also showed that 20,520 of the 82,164 registered voters had participated in the poll, representing an estimated 25 percent voter turnout as voting continued.

The election has been overshadowed by disputes that began weeks before voting commenced, including court cases, calls for postponement and disagreements over the adoption of a consensus candidate following the zoning of the presidency to the South-West.

The zoning arrangement prompted Egbe Amofin O'odua, the umbrella body of Yoruba lawyers, to endorse Akinboro as its consensus candidate and seek a court order compelling the NBA to recognise him as the region's sole candidate. The association, however, proceeded with the election with all three aspirants remaining on the ballot.

Fresh controversy erupted on Saturday as lawyers reported technical difficulties with the electronic voting system, with many unable to cast their votes for several hours.

In a strongly worded protest to the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Akangbe demanded the immediate suspension of the election, alleging that the voting portal had collapsed, one-time passwords (OTPs) were being delivered via email instead of SMS contrary to the committee's guidelines, and that the presidential ballot displayed the photograph of only one candidate.

He argued that the alleged irregularities had undermined the integrity of the election.

"A flawed, rushed election carried out today under these chaotic conditions cannot yield a credible result," Akangbe said.

"Whoever is declared the winner of an election conducted on a collapsed portal, with breached authentication, and on a visually defective ballot, will not lead the Bar with the confidence of the profession."

Beyond the presidential contest, Oghenero Okoro was leading the race for first vice-president with 8,355 votes (43.28 percent), while Afam O. Okeke topped the contest for general secretary with 6,526 votes (32.79 percent).

Aghogho Okpomor maintained a commanding lead in the assistant general secretary election with 11,302 votes (56.96 percent). Audrey Ofoegbunam was ahead in the welfare secretary race with 11,700 votes (60.07 percent), while Prince I. Azubuike led the publicity secretary contest with 11,554 votes (61.60 percent).

Voting was still ongoing at the time this report was filed, and the final outcome remained subject to the completion of the electoral process.