‘Election Integrity At Risk’ — NBA Presidential Candidate Wants Polls Halted Over E-Voting Glitches

The crisis surrounding the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national elections has deepened after one of the presidential candidates, Lateef Akangbe, called for the suspension of the exercise, alleging that the electronic voting platform suffered serious technical failures and security breaches that compromised the credibility of the process.

Akangbe, in a protest letter addressed to the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) on Saturday, demanded that the election be halted, voting records preserved, and an independent audit of the platform conducted before the process continues.

The development came hours after the ECNBA announced that the commencement of voting had been delayed following what it described as a coordinated cyberattack targeted at disrupting the electronic voting system.

In a statement issued early Saturday, the electoral committee said its platform was subjected to “a deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack by external actors aimed at disrupting and undermining the electoral process.”

The ECNBA said its cybersecurity team, in collaboration with the Election Voting Service Provider (EVSP), activated emergency security measures to repel the attack, restore the system and protect the integrity of the election.

It assured members that no votes were recorded while the platform was offline, adding that voting would commence once the system was fully restored.

However, Akangbe argued that the subsequent problems experienced by voters raised serious questions about the reliability of the process.

The senior lawyer described the situation as a “catastrophic structural and technical collapse,” claiming that the voting portal became inaccessible to a large number of accredited voters less than three hours after the exercise began.

According to him, several voters reported authentication failures, error messages and difficulties accessing the platform.

Akangbe questioned how the integrity of the election could be guaranteed if many members were unable to access the portal during critical periods of the voting process.

“If the portal is inaccessible to the general membership, how were any votes cast at all? Who had access to the platform during a window in which the public could not enter?” he asked.

He also raised concerns over reports that votes cast before the disruption could be cancelled and the process restarted, arguing that such a move required transparency and independent verification.

“A portal that collapses within the first two hours of a national election and then proposes to ‘restart’ is not a portal that can be trusted to deliver a credible result at any point thereafter,” Akangbe said.

Beyond the portal challenges, the candidate accused the ECNBA of allegedly violating its own electronic voting guidelines by allowing one-time passwords (OTPs) to be delivered through email instead of SMS.

He claimed the committee had earlier stated that authentication codes would be sent strictly through registered mobile numbers as part of measures to strengthen election security.

Akangbe described the alleged change in authentication method as a major concern, warning that it could weaken voter verification safeguards.

He further alleged that the electronic ballot displayed the photograph of only one presidential candidate, while the images of other candidates, including himself, were missing or failed to appear.

According to him, a ballot interface that does not present all candidates equally could create an unfair advantage and affect voters’ choices.

“A ballot that displays one candidate’s photograph while omitting the others is not a neutral instrument,” he said.

Akangbe called on the ECNBA to suspend the election immediately, conduct a comprehensive review of the system and address all concerns before allowing voting to continue.

He warned that any outcome produced under what he described as compromised conditions could face questions over legitimacy.

Meanwhile, the ECNBA has maintained that the election process remains under its supervision, with candidates, agents and observers present at the monitoring centre.

The committee reaffirmed its commitment to conducting a free, fair and transparent election despite what it described as criminal interference by external actors.

The 2026 NBA national election is expected to produce new national officers for the association, including the next President of the Nigerian Bar Association.