Breaking: NBA election collapses, Osigwe’s resignation demanded

The process for the election of a new president for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) collapsed in the early hours of Saturday, with some members demanding for the resignation of the incumbent, Afam Osigwe (SAN),

Three lawyers are seeking the post: Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, and Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya.

But shortly after voting commenced, the online voting platform reportedly collapsed.

A statement by a group within the NBA, which captured the timelines for what transpired, described it as a national embarrassment, with a demand that Osigwe should resign.

The group, Advocate for Rule of Law & Credibility, said: “At 12:35am, the Nigerian Bar Association’s election did not just fail.

“It collapsed in full public disgrace.

“After weeks of preparation, millions spent, and endless assurances, what we got was chaos.

“Members kept vigil all night only to be met with a broken portal and deafening silence.”

Describing it as a night of failure, the group gave details of what happened.

It said: “This is the full record of what happened:

“1. Server Boot Failure: At about 12:35am the election portal was still booting. The system was not ready.

“2. Navigation Errors: For those who managed to log in, error messages blocked every attempt to move to the next page. The code refused to populate.

“3. Missing Candidates: The pictures of 2 aspirants for President were missing from the ballot. Voters could not identify who they were voting for.

“4. Misspelled Names: To worsen matters, the names of candidates were misspelled. This is not just carelessness. It is a direct assault on the dignity and identity of aspirants.

“5. Abrupt Shutdown: Without notice, without explanation, the server went off. The election we waited for was summarily closed.

“No extension. No update. No reason.”

The Advocate for Rule of Law & Credibility described the development as incompetence at the highest level.

It said: “This is not a ‘technical glitch.’

“This is leadership failure.”

It said the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) cannot preach transparency to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), government, and world, and then conduct an election where servers crash, candidates pictures disappear, names are misspelled, votes cannot be cast, and the process is shut down at midnight with zero accountability

It added: “What message does this send?

“That the Bar, the conscience of the nation, has no capacity to manage its own affairs?

“Lawyers stayed awake, logged in, and were humiliated. That is disrespect to the entire profession.”

The group said in the circumstance, the only honourable thing is for Osigwe to resign.

It said: “Mr. President, leadership means taking responsibility.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖