A Senior Advocate of Nigeria who was a candidate in the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association presidential elections, Akinboro Olumuyiwa, has described the exercise as the worst in the association’s history, accusing former NBA President, Afam Osigwe of being responsible for the crisis that has trailed the controversial poll.

He made the allegations during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, where he questioned the credibility of the electoral process and the conduct of the election.

Recall that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conducted its national elections on July 18 and 19, 2026, during which Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, made history as the association’s first elected female president, polling 12,317 votes to defeat Lateef Akangbe, SAN, and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, and will serve as the NBA’s 33rd President for the 2026–2028 term. However, the outcome has since sparked controversy, with some candidates challenging the conduct of the election and instituting legal proceedings.

Olumuyiwa alleged that the problems began with what he described as the unconstitutional appointment of the Electoral Committee, claiming the committee failed to conduct a free and transparent election. Akinboro further accused Osigwe of using the machinery of the NBA to intimidate and influence members in support of a preferred candidate, while also alleging that the former president predicted the eventual outcome of the election before the results were announced.

“Unfortunately, what is happening now is that the NBA is witnessing its lowest time. We ended up having a president who is not very mature in office. Afam Osigwe is the sole cause of everything happening in the NBA,” he asserted.

He continued: “It started with the unconstitutional appointment of the Electoral Committee, and later how they campaigned for one candidate, using the instrumentality of the NBA to intimidate and harass people to support that candidate. He even went as far as telling people the results that eventually came out—bragging about who would come first, second, or third. On the field, we know what happened.

“We have had the worst election in the history of the NBA. Instead of improving over the years, it has severely deteriorated. This one is steep in standard because almost everybody is saying the same thing,” he bemoaned.

Responding to the suggestion that the controversy was triggered by candidates’ refusal to step down despite alleged pressure, Olumuyiwa dismissed the claim as “a lie from the pit of hell.” He maintained that nobody mounted pressure on any aspirant to withdraw from the race.

“That is a lie from the pit of hell; nobody mounted pressure on anybody to step down. I was a candidate in the election, and we are all members of the ‘Egbe Amofin’. We all went through the process, which is advisory—if you do not want to listen, you can go ahead and contest. That is what everybody did,” he explained.

Olumuyiwa attributed the controversy on poor management of the electoral process, alleging that the voting portal crashed shortly after polls opened, his details were wrongly displayed on the ballot, voting resumed without notice after an earlier suspension, and agreed recommendations to improve the process were ignored.

“Obviously, there are deeper flaws in the management of the electoral process, not technological glitches. We have been having elections, but this happens to be the worst we have ever had in the NBA.

“For example, the election was supposed to commence at midnight on the 18th. Within 30 minutes, the site crashed. Instead of Olumuyiwa Akinboro, my name appeared as 'Luwatoyin Akinboro,’ and my picture was not on the ballot. They suddenly shut it down and claimed it was a cyber-attack. A cyber-attack will not change what you inputted into your system—it might shut down the system, but it will not alter the input.

“I went to sleep around 6:00 AM, and the last update was that the election was suspended. A lot of people went to sleep, only to wake up around 9:00 AM to see that the election had commenced again, with no notification whatsoever.

“Yes, a 24-hour window, but our election was supposed to be on the 18th, from midnight to midnight. We didn’t start until 7:00 AM, so it had to extend from the 18th into the 19th. That was one of the problems. When we noticed these issues, the President himself called to organize a meeting with the Attorney General (AG) for all of us to look at the election issues. He called me personally, sent notices out, and we met with the AG to state all the issues. One of the agreements reached was to use National Identification Numbers (NIN) for verification because of the history of doctored emails. We agreed to use phone numbers instead of emails, among other things, and that the election would be shifted by one week so people could be properly educated.

“He then called the ECNBA (Electoral Committee), claiming he could not change the election date, even though he had previously shifted it from the 20th to the 18th without consulting them. All the AG wanted to do was ensure a free and fair election. Yet, yesterday, the election was extended into the 19th without going back to ECNBA,” he disclosed.

Dismissing the need for a forensic audit, Olumuyiwa insisted the irregularities were obvious, alleging that the election portal was changed multiple times during voting and that many members were unable to vote due to OTP failures.

“You do not need a forensic expert to know that things did not go well. Within the 24 hours meant for voting, they moved from portal to portal almost six times. The NBA advertised a portal and warned against voting on any other, yet they sent out more than six different portals during the same election period.

“Out of about 82,000 qualified voters, only about 27,000 were able to vote. I could not vote because I could not get my OTP, and many others couldn’t either. This is the first time we are recording less than 31% voter participation—the last election had nearly 60%,” he claimed.

Responding to concerns that annulling the election could destabilise the NBA, Akinboro disagreed, arguing that the association, as a body of lawyers, must uphold the rule of law and set the right example.

He maintained that condoning alleged irregularities would undermine the NBA’s moral authority to criticise flaws in Nigeria’s electoral process, insisting that any wrongdoing should be addressed rather than ignored.

“No, that is incorrect. As a body of lawyers, we stand for what is right and must lead by example.

“If we condone this, what are we saying for 2027 if the national election goes wrong? Should people just accept it so as not to project a bad image? If we are going to do the right thing, let us do the right thing. If this continues, it will only get worse in the next round. How can we criticize INEC—which conducts elections for over 80 million people—when we cannot properly conduct an election for 80,000 people and want to condone this?”, he questioned.

Insisting that the just concluded NBA election was neither free nor fair, Olumuyiwa alleged that the outcome had been predetermined, claiming the official overseeing the process had predicted the eventual ranking of candidates before the results were announced.

“It was absolutely not free and fair. You need to hear what people are saying. Even the person conducting the election told people beforehand who would come first, second, and third. The election was pre-determined,” he alleged.

On whether he would challenge the outcome in court, he said he was still consulting, adding that his priority was ensuring reforms to prevent a recurrence.

“I am still consulting. My principles stand for the truth, and I want to see things done right. Part of my mind tells me to go to court, but I am taking time to look back and evaluate. Service takes a lot from you, and I could easily focus on my practice and move on with my life. However, it would be selfish of me not to push for system changes so this does not happen again. By principle, I believe I should see this through to the end, but I am still consulting,” he said. (AriseNews TV, but headline rejigged)

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