The dissatisfaction over the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, Is yet to abate. …
The dissatisfaction over the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, Is yet to abate.
The first runner-up in the election, Lateef Akangbe (SAN), has now officially petitioned the NBA Election Appeal Committee to nullify the emergence of Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya (SAN) as the winner.
In the petition dated 27 July 2026, Mr Akangbe asked the committee to declare the 18 and 19 July election invalid, citing alleged significant breaches of the NBA Constitution, widespread voter disenfranchisement, technical failures, and a lack of transparency in the electronic voting process.
The petitioner is also calling for a fresh presidential election.
The petition was filed against the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), and Mrs Badejo-Okusanya.
The ECNBA had announced Mrs Badejo-Okusanya as the winner of the election, having secured 12,317 votes (47.18 per cent). Mr Akangbe received 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, garnered 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent).
Mr Akangbe argued, in his petition, that the election failed to adhere to the NBA Constitution and the ECNBA’s revised guidelines, asserting that the irregularities significantly impacted the election’s outcome.
The petitioner stated that the electronic voting platform crashed within ten minutes of voting commencing and remained inaccessible for over seven hours, preventing thousands of lawyers from casting their ballots.
He also claimed that although the ECNBA later attributed the disruption to a coordinated cyberattack, this had not been independently verified.
He added that over 25,000 of his supporters could not vote because they did not receive the authentication codes, and that he could not cast a vote himself.
The NBA Appeal Committee is yet to fix a hearing date, following the close of submission of petitions.
