*Tinubu Congratulates, Meets President-elect, Badejo-Okusanya At State House

ONE of the three candidates in this year’s Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has challenged the outcome, urging the Association’s National Officers Election Appeal Committee to nullify the election and order a fresh election.

    Akangbe, in a petition dated July 27, alleged that the July 18 election was marred by widespread irregularities, including malfunction of the electronic voting platform, non-receipt of One-Time Passwords (OTPs) by eligible voters, use of multiple voting websites and extension of the voting period beyond advertised deadline.

  He is contesting the declaration of Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya (SAN) as winner of the election by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), having secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast.

    Akangbe polled 7,934 votes, representing 30.39 per cent, while Olumuyiwa Akinboro garnered 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 per cent.

    However, Akangbe, in the petition filed before the Election Appeal Committee in Abuja, argued that the election was invalid due to alleged non-compliance with the NBA Constitution 2015 (as amended) and the revised guidelines issued by the ECNBA for the conduct of the election, specifically the alleged failure of the electronic voting platform shortly after voting commenced.

    He claimed that the voting website became inaccessible within minutes of commencement of the voting and remained down for over seven hours, with the ECNBA later informing voters that the disruption resulted from a coordinated cyberattack, which according to hi, had not been independently verified.

    He alleged that the voting process was subsequently migrated to another website that had neither been approved by the NBA’s National Executive Committee nor tested by the candidates’ information technology representatives.

    While also raising concerns over the deployment of multiple websites and voting links during the election, alleging that the development created confusion among voters, Akangbe claimed the live results displayed during the election reflected a suspiciously predictable voting pattern in favour of the eventual winner, which an expert analysis suggested could indicate possible pre-programming of the voting system.

    The senior lawyer requested access to the backend of the electronic voting platform and related technical records to facilitate an independent audit, alleging that thousands of eligible voters were disenfranchised because they did not receive the OTPs required to authenticate and cast their votes.

    He stated that while 82,213 members were listed as eligible voters, only 26,106 eventually voted, leaving 56,107 eligible voters unable to participate, insisting that over 25,000 of those allegedly disenfranchised voters were expected to support his candidacy.

    Akangbe claimed that he was unable to vote in the election, despite being one of the candidates, insisting that the inability of eligible voters to participate substantially affected the outcome of the poll.

    He also challenged the duration of the election, which was scheduled to begin at midnight on July 18 and conclude at 11:59 p.m. the same day, alleging that voting continued into the early hours of July 19, without adequate notice or explanation, further undermined the transparency and credibility of the process.

    Akangbe is also seeking access to extensive electronic records relating to the election, including the voters’ register, final result sheets, server and application logs, network traffic records, system backups, voter authentication records, voting timestamps, system error logs, OTP delivery records, security protocols, administrative access records and other technical data, arguing that the documents are necessary to facilitate his appeal and enable a comprehensive audit of the election process.

    He maintained that the alleged irregularities and breaches were substantial, systemic and significant enough to affect the outcome of the election and render the declared result incapable of being regarded as the product of a proper, regular and valid electoral process.

    He is asking the Appeal Committee to declare that the election was marred by irregularities and breaches that compromised its credibility and integrity and seeking an order nullifying the results, cancelling the election, directing the NBA to conduct a fresh presidential poll and setting aside the declaration of Badejo-Okunsanya as the winner.

    The petition, filed on July 27, and now before the NBA Election Appeal Committee for determination, lists the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA; ECNBA and Badejo-Okunsanya as respondents.

    Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, July 28, hosted Badejo-Okusanya at the State House, Abuja.

    Badejo-Okusanya was accompanied on the courtesy visit by Dean, Faculty of Law, Caleb University, Foluke Dada-Lawanson; President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, Ezinwa Okoroafor; Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Lead of the NBA Women Forum, Hadiza Afegbua; and Publicity Lead of the BBold Campaign Team, Ramlat Ridhwan.

    Badejo-Okusanya, who emerged as NBA’s 33rd president, is scheduled to take over from Afam Osigwe at the NBA’s annual general conference in Enugu, next month, for a two-year tenure.