Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, has rejected the outcome of the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, describing the exercise as lacking credibility and alleging that thousands of lawyers were disenfranchised by the electronic voting platform.

Akangbe, who lost the presidential contest to Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, made his position known in a five-page statement issued on Sunday, where he thanked his supporters but insisted the election was marred by systemic failures that undermined its integrity.

He maintained that his statement was not about the declared results but about protecting the democratic rights of members of the association.

“Thank you to every lawyer who stayed awake for two nights to cast a single vote. You refreshed a broken portal at 1 AM, at 3 AM, at 5 AM. You set alarms. You tried on your phones, on your laptops, on borrowed devices. You sent screenshots to your branch WhatsApp groups documenting every error, every timeout, every failed authentication. You did not give up. You did not go to bed. You did not surrender your franchise to a system that was collapsing around you.”

Akangbe said many lawyers were unable to vote despite repeated attempts, arguing that they were disenfranchised by the voting infrastructure rather than by apathy.

“Some of you succeeded in voting. The vast majority of you did not. Some of you tried for hours and were locked out by a platform that was never built to carry the weight of your democratic will. You were disenfranchised not by choice but by infrastructure. Not by apathy but by failure.”

He also praised NBA branches across the country for mobilising members despite the challenges experienced during the election.

The senior advocate accused the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) of rushing the election process after changing the authentication method shortly before voting commenced.

According to him, the committee moved the election date from July 20 to July 18 without the necessary approval and introduced a new SMS-based authentication system barely 48 hours before the exercise.

“The ECNBA unilaterally moved the NEC-approved election date from 20 July to 18 July without obtaining NEC approval. At the meeting of 15 July 2026… an agreement was reached to postpone by one week to allow proper sensitisation on the new SMS-based voting mechanism… That agreement was not honoured.”

He further claimed the electronic voting platform collapsed within the first hour and questioned the explanation that the disruption was caused by a cyberattack.

“The result was predictable. The platform collapsed within its first hour. The ECNBA attributed this to a ‘deliberate, coordinated, and sustained cyberattack.’ Whether that claim is true or not… it does not answer the question that matters: why did the attack succeed?”

Akangbe disclosed that he personally experienced difficulties accessing the voting portal despite interventions from top NBA officials.

“I, a presidential candidate in this election, was completely disenfranchised. I could not vote. The Chairman of the ECNBA and the NBA President personally sent me over five separate links to access the voting portal. Not one of them worked.”

According to him, if senior officials could not successfully assist a presidential candidate to vote, ordinary members across the country would have faced even greater challenges.

He argued that participation in the election reflected the extent of the problems, noting that turnout fell sharply compared to previous NBA elections.

“In this election, with 82,164 accredited voters, the ECNBA’s own reported figures suggest that approximately 27 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots. Not even a third of the profession voted.”

Akangbe alleged that reports of multiple voting by some individuals further called the integrity of the election into question.

“There are also credible, documented reports of voters who were able to cast their ballots more than once on the same platform. If the system permitted double voting, the integrity of every single ballot is in question.”

He insisted the exercise could not pass any credibility test, arguing that the association risks losing the moral authority to demand transparency and accountability from other institutions if it cannot conduct its own elections credibly.

“This election cannot pass any credibility test.”

The defeated presidential candidate stressed that he would not immediately challenge the declared figures but would first review all available legal options with his team.

“I am reviewing all my options alongside my team. I will communicate a comprehensive, fully informed, and principled position on next steps shortly. When I do, it will be grounded in evidence, anchored in law, and driven by a single objective: the protection of the democratic rights of every member of this Association.”

Despite his criticisms of the electoral process, Akangbe urged his supporters to remain committed to the ideals of the NBA, saying his mission to “Elevate the Bar” would continue beyond the election.

“This campaign was never about one man. It was about the proposition that the NBA can be better, that it must be better, and that the lawyers of this country deserve an Association that works for them.”

He concluded by thanking members who supported his campaign, assuring them that the struggle for a more transparent and accountable Bar would continue. (TVC News, excluding headline)

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