The 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) National Elections commenced on Saturday after the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) restored its e-voting platform, despite calls by presidential candidates Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, for the exercise to be suspended over alleged irregularities.
Voting had earlier been delayed after the ECNBA announced that its electronic voting platform came under a coordinated cyberattack shortly before the scheduled commencement of the election at 12:00 a.m.
Although the Committee assured members that no votes had been compromised and later reopened the portal after restoring the system, the decision to proceed has done little to calm concerns raised by some of the presidential candidates.
Hours before voting commenced, Akangbe formally petitioned the ECNBA, demanding the immediate suspension and postponement of the election, arguing that the credibility of the process had been fundamentally compromised.
The senior advocate cited the prolonged collapse of the voting portal, alleged breaches of the committee’s revised voter authentication guidelines, and what he described as defects in the electronic ballot.
Among his complaints was the allegation that while one presidential candidate’s photograph appeared on the ballot, the photographs of the remaining candidates, including his own, were either omitted or failed to display.
He also alleged that despite the ECNBA’s announcement that One-Time Passwords (OTPs) would be delivered exclusively through SMS, some voters reportedly received authentication codes through email, contrary to the committee’s published guidelines.
Akangbe argued that the cumulative effect of the alleged irregularities rendered the process incapable of producing a credible outcome and urged the ECNBA to suspend the election, preserve all electronic records and subject the platform to an independent forensic audit before any voting could take place.
Similarly, another presidential candidate, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, also raised concerns over the integrity of the election platform.
His campaign reportedly complained that his surname was incorrectly spelt on the official voting portal and questioned the fairness of aspects of the ballot presentation, describing the issues as capable of confusing voters and undermining confidence in the electoral process.
Despite the objections, the ECNBA proceeded with the election after announcing that its cybersecurity team and the Election Voting Service Provider had successfully restored the platform following the earlier cyberattack.
The Committee maintained that the delay was purely precautionary, insisting that voting did not commence until the system had been secured and certified safe for use.
It also urged members to access only the official voting portal and disregard unofficial links or websites, warning that such platforms could form part of the malicious cyber campaign that targeted the election.
As voting got underway, lawyers across the country continued to express mixed reactions, with some welcoming the restoration of the platform while others questioned whether the concerns raised by the aggrieved candidates had been sufficiently addressed before the election resumed.
As of the time of filing this report, the ECNBA had not publicly responded specifically to the allegations regarding the reported omission of candidates’ photographs, the alleged misspelling of a candidate’s name, or the claims concerning voter authentication.
Likewise, the campaign organisation of presidential candidate Ms Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN (Bold) had not publicly commented on the allegations raised by the opposing candidates.
The election is expected to determine the next national leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association, with members voting electronically across the country’s 130 branches.
Editor’s Note: The allegations contained in this report are claims made by the affected candidates and their campaigns. They have not been independently verified, and no official finding has been made establishing that the alleged irregularities affected the outcome or integrity of the election.