A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and presidential candidate in the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, has rejected the outcome of the election, alleging that the exercise was riddled with irregularities and failed to meet basic standards of credibility.
Akangbe, who lost the presidency of the association to Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, said the election was marred by technical failures, poor planning and widespread disenfranchisement of lawyers across the country.
In a five-page statement issued on Sunday, the senior lawyer thanked members who supported his campaign but insisted that the election did not reflect the democratic will of the legal profession.
According to him, his position was not simply about the declared result but about defending the integrity of the NBA and protecting the voting rights of its members.
He commended lawyers who made repeated efforts to participate in the election despite the problems experienced on the electronic voting platform.
Akangbe said many members spent hours trying to cast their votes, staying awake through the night while repeatedly attempting to access the voting portal on different devices.
He said several lawyers documented failed login attempts, authentication errors and system timeouts, sharing screenshots of the problems on their various branch communication platforms.
“Thank you to every lawyer who stayed awake for two nights to cast a single vote. You refreshed a broken portal at 1am, at 3am, at 5am. You set alarms. You tried on your phones, on your laptops, on borrowed devices. You sent screenshots documenting every error, every timeout and every failed authentication,” he said.
According to him, while a few members eventually succeeded in voting, the majority were unable to exercise their franchise because the electronic voting infrastructure failed.
He argued that lawyers were disenfranchised not because they lacked interest in the election but because the voting platform could not handle the process.
Akangbe also praised NBA branches across the country for mobilising members to participate despite the challenges that emerged before and during the election.
The senior advocate accused the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) of making major changes to the election process without adequate preparation.
According to him, the committee shifted the election date from July 20 to July 18 without obtaining the approval of the NBA National Executive Council (NEC), which had earlier approved the original date.
He further alleged that the committee introduced a new SMS-based authentication system less than 48 hours before voting began, leaving many lawyers confused about the new process.
Akangbe said that during an ECNBA meeting held on July 15, stakeholders agreed that the election should be postponed by one week to allow sufficient public awareness and testing of the new authentication method.
He claimed that the agreement was ignored and the election went ahead as scheduled.
According to him, the problems that followed were predictable because the voting platform was not adequately prepared.
He said the system reportedly crashed within the first hour of voting.
Although the ECNBA reportedly attributed the disruption to a deliberate cyberattack, Akangbe argued that such an explanation did not answer the key question of why the platform was vulnerable in the first place.
He maintained that regardless of whether there was a cyberattack, the committee had a responsibility to ensure that the voting system was secure and capable of handling the election.
Akangbe also revealed that he personally could not cast his vote despite being one of the presidential candidates in the election.
He said both the NBA President and the Chairman of the ECNBA tried to assist him by sending several links to access the voting portal, but none of them worked.
“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,” he stated.
According to him, if senior officials of the association could not help a presidential candidate access the platform, ordinary lawyers would have faced even greater difficulties.
The senior advocate also questioned the level of participation in the election.
He noted that out of 82,164 accredited voters, the figures released by the electoral committee showed that only about 27 per cent eventually voted.
Akangbe said the low turnout reflected the widespread technical failures experienced during the exercise rather than voter apathy.
He argued that such a participation rate could not be regarded as a true reflection of the wishes of NBA members.
The presidential candidate further alleged that there were credible reports indicating that some individuals were able to vote more than once on the electronic platform.
According to him, if the system allowed multiple voting, the credibility of the entire election would be seriously undermined.
“There are credible, documented reports of voters who were able to cast their ballots more than once. If the system permitted double voting, the integrity of every single ballot is in question,” he said.
Akangbe maintained that the election failed every reasonable test of transparency and credibility.
He warned that the NBA risks losing the moral authority to demand accountability from government institutions and other public bodies if it cannot organise credible elections within its own ranks.
He said lawyers have consistently championed democracy, the rule of law and electoral integrity across Nigeria, adding that the association must hold itself to the same standards it expects from others.
Despite rejecting the election process, Akangbe said he would not immediately challenge the declared result.
Instead, he said he and his legal team were reviewing all available options before deciding on the next line of action.
According to him, whatever decision is eventually taken will be based on evidence, the law and the need to protect the democratic rights of NBA members.
He assured his supporters that he would communicate his final position after completing the review.
Akangbe also urged lawyers who supported his campaign not to lose faith in the association despite the outcome of the election.
He said the “Elevate the Bar” vision that formed the basis of his campaign would continue beyond the election, stressing that the struggle for a stronger and more transparent NBA did not end with the declaration of results.
“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 said.
The NBA is Nigeria’s umbrella body for legal practitioners and is regarded as one of the country’s most influential professional associations. Its president plays a key role in shaping discussions on the rule of law, judicial reforms, human rights, constitutional issues and governance.
For that reason, the credibility of the association’s elections is often closely watched by lawyers and members of the public, who expect the NBA to uphold the democratic principles and transparency it regularly advocates in the nation’s electoral process.
Akangbe concluded by thanking lawyers who stood with his campaign throughout the election and pledged to continue working for reforms that would strengthen the association and restore confidence in its electoral process.