Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has opened a clear lead in the Nigerian Bar Association presidential election, pulling ahead of her two main rivals after voting resumed following a cyberattack on the NBA’s electronic voting platform.
Updated results released at about 6:00 p.m. on Saturday showed that 21,665 lawyers out of 82,164 registered voters had cast their ballots, representing a 26.37% turnout.
Of the votes counted so far, Badejo-Okusanya polled 9,930 votes, or 45.82%, to maintain her lead.Her closest challenger, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, secured 6,708 votes, representing 30.99%. Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, followed with 5,021 votes, or 23.21%.
The figures indicate that Badejo-Okusanya has consolidated her advantage in one of the most keenly contested NBA presidential elections in recent years. Voting and collation were still ongoing at the time of this report.
The election got off to a turbulent start after the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, ECNBA, announced an indefinite delay due to what it described as a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack” on its electronic voting platform.
Voting was originally scheduled to begin at midnight on Saturday but could not start as planned. In a statement signed by ECNBA Chairman, Aham Ejelam, SAN, and Secretary, Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa, Esq., the committee said external actors targeted the platform in an attempt to compromise the integrity of the process.
The ECNBA said its cybersecurity team and Election Voting Service Provider immediately activated emergency security protocols to contain the threat and restore the system. The committee assured members that no votes were accepted during the disruption and that voting only commenced after the platform was secured
The incident heightened anxiety among lawyers nationwide, coming amid weeks of controversy over voter verification, the electronic voting process, and the overall integrity of the poll
Despite the disruption, the ECNBA said the election remained under its supervision, with candidates, agents and observers monitoring proceedings from the designated election centre
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