NBA Election Integrity Questioned as Presidential Candidate Demands Immediate Suspension

NBA Election Integrity Questioned as Presidential Candidate Demands Immediate Suspension

The ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election has been thrown into controversy after one of the presidential candidates, Lateef Akangbe (SAN), called for the immediate suspension of the exercise, citing alleged technical failures and security breaches that he said have undermined the credibility of the electronic voting process.

Voting in the NBA's national election commenced at midnight on July 18, with results expected on Sunday. However, in a protest letter addressed to the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) on Saturday, Akangbe alleged that the election suffered a "catastrophic structural and technical collapse" within hours of its commencement.

He urged the ECNBA to halt the election, preserve all voting records, commission an independent audit of the electronic voting platform and reschedule the exercise after all identified deficiencies have been addressed.

Portal failure raises integrity concerns

Akangbe's principal grievance relates to the alleged collapse of the e-voting portal. According to him, by 2:09 a.m., the platform had become inaccessible to most of the approximately 82,000 accredited voters, with users reportedly encountering authentication failures, error messages and repeated timeouts.

He further expressed concern over reports suggesting that votes cast before the system outage might be cancelled and the election restarted, arguing that such a move would cast serious doubt on the integrity of the process.

"If the portal is inaccessible to the general membership, how were any votes cast at all? Who had access to the platform during a window in which the public could not enter?" Akangbe queried.

He also questioned how candidates and voters could be assured that no unauthorised activity occurred while the platform was inaccessible.

"How can the candidates, their agents, or the membership verify that back-end ballot dumping has not already taken place during this period of total opacity?" he asked.

According to the senior lawyer, a voting platform that collapses within hours of the election cannot inspire confidence in the credibility of the eventual outcome.

Candidate alleges breach of voting guidelines

Akangbe also accused the ECNBA of violating its revised electronic voting guidelines by allegedly transmitting one-time passwords (OTPs) through email rather than SMS.

He noted that less than 24 hours before the election, the committee had informed voters that authentication codes would be sent exclusively via registered mobile numbers through SMS to address concerns over email-based manipulation raised in previous NBA elections.

However, he alleged that shortly after voting commenced, several voters began receiving OTPs through email instead.

Describing the development as more than a technical error, Akangbe argued that it amounted to a breach of the election's security framework.

"If OTPs are being delivered via email, the entire authentication framework is compromised," he said.

Complaint over ballot design

The presidential candidate further alleged that the electronic ballot displayed the photograph of only one of the three cleared candidates, while the photographs of the other contestants, including his, were either omitted or failed to load.

He argued that the discrepancy conferred an unfair visual advantage on one candidate and raised questions about the adequacy of the platform's testing before deployment.

"A ballot that displays one candidate's photograph while omitting the others is not a neutral instrument," he said.

Akangbe maintained that the ECNBA should immediately suspend the election until the identified issues are fully resolved, warning that proceeding with the exercise under the current circumstances could undermine the legitimacy of the eventual winner.

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

As of the time of filing this report, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association had not publicly responded to the allegations.