In a dramatic turn of events just hours before the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Elections 2024, the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) has published the full list of eligible voters. This action comes in direct response to a strongly-worded letter from presidential candidate Tobenna Erojikwe, who highlighted the committee’s failure to comply with the NBA Constitution.
In his letter, Erojikwe pointed out the constitutional requirement for publishing the voter list, citing Paragraph 9 of Part IV of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution:
“The full list of the members of the association qualified to vote shall be published by the ECNBA at least forty-five (45) clear days before the date of the election.”
Erojikwe emphasised the importance of this requirement, stating:
“The provision contemplates that the Voters’ List should be accessible in one place and to members of the public. More so, eligible voters should, relying on the Voters’ List, be able to tell with certainty the maximum number of voter turnouts at the election. This and similar requirements were put in place to ensure transparency and accountability in our electoral process.”
The candidate also criticised the ECNBA’s previous approach to voter verification, arguing:
“The current ‘publication’ requires voters to include their Supreme Court number and other details in order to verify whether their names are on the Voters’ List. Ideally, following this process, an eligible voter would be able to access voting information relating to them alone and be unable to have visibility regarding the total number of voters, etc. The ECNBA’s current approach to publication is, to put it mildly, strange to any electoral process globally.”
Erojikwe further stressed the significance of publishing the voter list, drawing parallels with national electoral practices:
“By way of analogy, as a prelude to any election in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission is mandated to publish a voters’ list. In fact, the voters’ list is so important that it serves as a crucial piece of evidence post-elections.”
The ECNBA’s decision to publish the list just before the election deadline addresses Erojikwe’s concerns about potential legal challenges. In his letter, he had warned:
“Intentionally courting such an obvious potential ground for post-election challenges appears reckless, especially when compliance takes less than nothing from the ECNBA.”
This last-minute compliance with the NBA Constitution is expected to enhance the transparency and integrity of the upcoming elections. As Erojikwe noted in his letter, the publication of the voter list “will give an idea of the expected voter turnout for the election, preventing an inflation of figures for any region and even making the accountability process for the ECNBA easier.”
The NBA elections are scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 20, 2024, with the newly published voter list now available for scrutiny by all candidates and NBA members.
