Fresh controversy has trailed the ongoing 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Elections as two presidential candidates, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, separately raised serious concerns over the credibility of the electronic voting process, alleging multiple irregularities capable of undermining the integrity of the election. Meanwhile, the campaign of another leading presidential candidate, Ms. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN (Bold), had not publicly responded to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
The concerns come against the backdrop of the cyberattack on the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) voting platform, which delayed the commencement of voting in the early hours of Saturday.
While the ECNBA attributed the disruption to a coordinated cyberattack and assured members that no votes had been compromised, fresh allegations by presidential candidates have shifted attention from the technical disruption to the integrity of the election itself.
In an emergency protest addressed to the ECNBA shortly after voting was delayed, Akangbe called for the immediate suspension and postponement of the election, describing the process as having suffered a “catastrophic structural and technical collapse.”
The senior advocate argued that the failure of the voting portal, coupled with other irregularities allegedly observed on the platform, had fundamentally compromised the credibility of the election.
Among his complaints was the allegation that the electronic ballot displayed the photograph of only one presidential candidate, while the photographs of the remaining candidates, including his own, were either omitted or failed to appear.
According to Akangbe, such a defect could not be dismissed as a mere technical error because the ballot interface in an electronic election serves as the equivalent of the physical ballot paper.
He argued that displaying the image of only one candidate could create a visual advantage capable of influencing voters and called the omission an unacceptable breach of electoral neutrality.
Akangbe also alleged that the ECNBA departed from its own revised voting guidelines by sending One-Time Passwords (OTPs) through email despite announcing barely 24 hours earlier that voter authentication would be conducted exclusively through SMS in order to eliminate concerns over manipulation.
The presidential candidate further questioned the integrity of the voting database following the prolonged outage of the election portal, arguing that the inability of members to access the platform raised legitimate concerns about whether the system remained secure during the disruption.
He consequently demanded the immediate suspension of the election, preservation of all system logs and voting records, and an independent forensic audit of the entire platform before voting could continue.
Separately, the camp of another presidential candidate, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, also raised concerns over what is described as defects in the design and presentation of the electronic ballot.
According to information made available by his campaign, Akinboro observed that his surname was incorrectly spelt on the official voting portal, a development his supporters described as capable of creating confusion among voters.
His campaign also reportedly complained that the ballot interface did not present all candidates on an equal footing, raising concerns about whether the election platform met the standards of fairness expected of a national election within the legal profession.
The allegations have fuelled debate among lawyers on social media, with several members calling on the Electoral Committee to clarify the reported defects and explain the measures being taken to guarantee the credibility of the election.
The concerns come only hours after the ECNBA announced that the election platform had been subjected to a deliberate and sustained cyberattack, forcing a delay in the commencement of voting.
Although the committee insisted that no votes had been compromised because voting had not begun before the attack, the latest allegations by candidates have introduced fresh questions regarding the overall integrity of the electoral process.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the ECNBA nor the campaign organisation of presidential candidate, Ms. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN (Bold), had publicly responded to the allegations concerning the alleged omission of candidates’ photographs, the reported misspelling of a candidate’s name, or claims of possible electoral manipulation.
The ECNBA has maintained that it remains committed to conducting a free, fair and credible election and has urged members to rely only on official communications regarding the electoral process.
Editor’s Note: The allegations contained in this report are claims made by candidates and their respective camps. As of the time of publication, they have not been independently verified, and the ECNBA has not issued a specific response to each of the allegations. The Bold campaign has also not publicly commented on the claims.