Headlines
Akpata, Adesina, Ajibade Jostle for NBA Presidency As Ogunlana Challenges Disqualification
A former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja branch, Mr Adesina Ogunlana, has vowed to challenge the verdict of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, which affirmed his disqualification from the NBA presidential race.
Nigerian lawyers, under the aegis of the NBA, are set to elect a new set of national leaders in an electronic poll scheduled for July 29 and 30, 2020.
In the NBA presidential race are two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Mr Dele Adesina and Dr Babatunde Ajibade; as well as a former Chairman of the NBA Section on Business Law, Mr Olumide Akpata.
The Chief Tawo Tawo-led Electoral Committee of the NBA, on Wednesday, released a list of 29,635 lawyers who had been accredited to vote in the e-election, scheduled to commence at 11pm on Wednesday.
In its “Statement No.18” on Wednesday, the ECNBA said the 29,635 accredited voters excluded “1,604 names with duplicate phone numbers and/or email addresses.”
The electoral committee urged lawyers to conduct themselves “in the respectable manner for which the legal profession is known,” and advised all the candidates in the elections and their supporters to stop campaigning.
The ECNBA said voters could observe the election real time from the comfort of their locations by following a given link.
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Ogunlana explained that he was disqualified by the electoral committee on the basis that he failed to supply a letter of good standing from his local branch.
He blamed the incumbent Chairman of the Ikeja NBA, Mr Dele Oloke, for not only refusing his application for a letter of good standing but also issuing a May 25, 2020 letter, accusing him of failing to refund N11.65m “withdrawn by you from the branch’s insurance account into your personal account.”
Ogunlana argued that Oloke had no right to bring up the N11.65m issue as he was already being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the matter was sub judice.
He maintained that he ought not to have been disqualified from the NBA election because letter of good standing was not one of the eligibility conditions set out in Section 8(3)(c) of the NBA constitution.
Ogunlana’s attempt to stop the NBA election hit the brick wall last Friday when Justice Adedayo Oyebanji dismissed his application for interlocutory injunction.
The judge said having admitted his failure to submit a letter of good standing to the electoral committee, Ogunlana had no legal right to be protected by the court.
However, Ogunlana said he was displeased with the court’s verdict and would be going on appeal.
He predicted that the NBA elections would be fraught with rigging and end in chaos.
Ogunlana said, “We of the Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association foresee chaos in the election as the vexatious issue of rigging and manipulation of the electronic voting method adopted by the Nigerian Bar Association with the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (2015 as amended) is rearing its ugly head again.
“Almost all the candidates in the national elections have expressed their doubt with the integrity of the electronic voting platform.
“We categorically demand that to rest this vexatious issue of electronic voting manipulation and rigging, the exercise should be decentralised with same to be conducted at branch levels before central collation at the national level. We also call for the abolition of rotational presidency on tribal arrangements as currently exists.”
The Punch
President John Mahama of Ghana has ordered the immediate recall of Mohammed Ahmed, known as Baba Jamal, from his position as the country’s high commissioner to Nigeria over allegations of vote buying in Saturday’s parliamentary primaries.
Mahama’s decision was in response to claims that delegates were induced during the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries.
Jamal was a candidate in the polls, which he later won.
During the election, Jamal’s campaign team offered 32-inch televisions and boiled eggs to delegates who took part in the primaries.
“So if you give television sets to people, what is wrong with it when you give things to people?” he asked, according to local media JoyOnline.
“Is this the first time I am giving things to people?”
Explaining the reason behind Jamal’s recall, Felix Ofosu, Mahama’s spokesperson, said that while the allegations of vote buying were made against multiple candidates who contested the primaries, Jamal was the only serving public officer among them.
“The President has also noted the public statement by the General Secretary of the NDC indicating that the Party has commenced its own investigations into the allegations arising from the primaries,” the statement reads.
“Without prejudice to the ongoing internal party processes, and strictly in view of the standards of conduct expected of public officers, the President considers it necessary to act decisively to preserve the integrity of public office and to avoid any perception of impropriety or conflict with the Government’s Code of Conduct for Political Appointees.”
Ofosu said the high commissioner’s recall takes effect immediately, and that directives had been issued to the minister for foreign affairs to take the necessary administrative steps.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has reconstituted the leadership of its 2026 National Convention Central Coordination Committee, appointing former Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, as the new chairman.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who was initially named chairman of the committee, has been reassigned to serve as treasurer.
In addition, the APC expanded the committee’s membership from 73 to 90 members to accommodate more party stakeholders.
Newly added members include Senator Barry Mpigi and several other prominent APC chieftains.
According to the party, the adjustments form part of the revised 2026 APC National Convention Central Coordination Committee and were made to reflect zoning considerations and other strategic exigencies.
The Senate, yesterday, passed the Electoral Bill 2026 following hours of robust debate. But it rejected a proposal to mandate real-time electronic transmission of election results while approving significant reforms to election timelines, penalties for electoral offences and voting technology.
At the centre of the controversy was Section 60, which governs the transmission of polling unit results. Senators voted down a recommendation by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters that would have compelled presiding officers to upload results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real time.
Instead, lawmakers retained the approach in the 2022 Electoral Act, which allows electronic transmission after votes are counted and publicly announced at the polling unit.
Relatedly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which concluded work on the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election, is unable to release it due to ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act by the National Assembly.
It also identified the inclusion of deceased persons on the voters’ register, prompting plans for a nationwide verification exercise.
On its part, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) raised the alarm over the National Assembly’s delay in passing the Electoral Act amendments, warning that the situation could expose political parties to technical and legal pitfalls ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Under the retained provisions, presiding officers are required to: count votes at the polling unit, record results on prescribed forms, announce them publicly and transmit them electronically to the appropriate collation centre.
Copies must also be provided to polling agents and security personnel where available. Violators face fines of up to N500,000 or a minimum of six months’ imprisonment.
Senators opposing the real-time upload argued that inconsistent network coverage and logistical challenges could trigger legal disputes and undermine electoral credibility.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, described the debate as largely semantic.
“Electronic transmission remains part of the law,” he said, “and results will continue to be available to the public both electronically and through physical forms, ensuring verifiable records for disputes.”
Beyond the transmission debate, the Senate approved far-reaching amendments to Nigeria’s electoral calendar. The election notice period was reduced from 360 days to 180 days, the deadline for submission of party candidate lists was shortened from 120 to 90 days, and the nomination period was cut from 180 to 90 days.
To deter electoral malpractice, the fine for unlawful possession of voters’ cards was increased from N500,000 to N5 million, though the Senate rejected a proposal for a 10-year ban on vote-buyers, opting for stiffer financial penalties instead. The smart card reader was officially removed from the electoral framework and replaced with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, noted the delay yesterday in Abuja at INEC’s first quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The e-transmission of results, if approved, would have required INEC presiding officers to upload results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, immediately after completing Form EC&A, which must be signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.
Instead, the senators chose to retain the present Electoral Act provision, which mandates that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
The rejected proposal was contained in the new Clause 60(5) of the draft bill, which aimed to mandate presiding officers to electronically transmit polling unit results in real time after completing and signing Form EC8A.
The clause was designed to strengthen transparency and reduce electoral malpractice through technology-driven result management.
The motion to reject the electronic transmission clause was swiftly seconded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin.
Similarly, the Senate also rejected a proposed amendment under Clause 47 that would have allowed voters to present electronically-generated voter identification, including a downloadable voter card with a unique Quick Response (QR) code, as a valid means of accreditation.
The Senate further upheld the provision mandating the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) or any other technological device prescribed by INEC for voter verification and authentication, rather than allowing alternative digital identification methods as proposed in the new bill.
With these decisions, the Senate reaffirmed the use of PVC and BVAS-based accreditation while rejecting efforts to expand digital voter identification and make electronic transmission of results compulsory.
The Guardian
