NBA Election: Senior Advocate Calls for Review Over Technical Glitches

The recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) election has been marred by significant technical glitches, prompting calls for a thorough review from prominent legal figures. Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Monday Ubani expressed his disappointment, stating that he and his son, along with numerous other eligible lawyers, were unable to cast their votes.

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After several unsuccessful attempts, the response on my device changed to the now-familiar refrain: “This site can’t be reached,” Sadly, that remained my experience until voting eventually came to an end.

Ubani detailed his experience, explaining that the required One-Time Password (OTP) for electronic voting failed to arrive after multiple attempts. His device subsequently displayed an error message indicating the site was unreachable, a problem that persisted until the voting concluded. He noted that colleagues and friends reported similar difficulties, with some switching from mobile devices to laptops without success.

"An electoral process that technically disenfranchises a significant number of eligible voters cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as wholly free, fair, credible and inclusive," Ubani lamented in a statement on his Facebook page. He stressed that the widespread complaints could not be dismissed as isolated incidents and that any assertion of a flawless process would be inaccurate.

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An electoral process that technically disenfranchises a significant number of eligible voters cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as wholly free, fair, credible and inclusive.

Despite these significant concerns about the election's integrity, Ubani extended his congratulations to the declared winner, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, and other elected national officers. He expressed confidence that Badejo-Okusanya could have secured a decisive victory even without the technical issues. Ubani urged the incoming leadership to prioritize reforming the NBA's electoral system to prevent future disenfranchisement.

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Indeed, I believe Madam Badejo-Okusanya could still have won resoundingly even without the technical glitches.