In a significant development following the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Elections 2024, presidential candidate Tobenna Erojikwe has issued a statement contesting the results and calling for an official audit of the election process.
The Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) declared Mazi Afam Josiah Osigwe, SAN, as the winner with 20,435 votes. Erojikwe, who emerged as the first runner-up with 10,998 votes, has raised serious concerns about the credibility and integrity of the electoral process.
In his statement, Erojikwe stated, “I have a reasonable and well-informed basis to believe that the electoral process and the election were not credible or satisfactory.”
He outlined several issues that he believes compromised the election:
1. Pre-election concerns: Erojikwe had previously written to the ECNBA on multiple occasions. He noted, “It is on record that in the process leading up to the elections, I wrote to the ECNBA on at least three occasions to express my concerns and highlight certain breaches and irregularities surrounding the election.”
2. Late publication of voters’ list: Erojikwe pointed out, “It was not until 4 hours before the commencement of polls that the ECNBA published the full list of eligible voters in defiance of the provisions of Paragraph 9 of Part V of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution, which provides in mandatory terms that the ECNBA shall publish the full list of voters at least 45 (forty-five) clear days before the date of the election.”
3. Suspicious vote tallying: Erojikwe’s team observed what they describe as “the rare phenomenon where the number of votes ascribed to the winning candidate steadily increased in an almost exact geometric progression at the top of each hour for nearly the entirety of the election in a manner which, our cyber analysts professionally believe, is demonstrative of a pre-programming of votes.”
4. Discrepancies in vote counts: “At different times, the sum of the votes cast for the candidates was either in excess of, or less than, the total votes tallied at the relevant time. For a process where the tallying is automatic, such a statistical discrepancy is inexplicable.”
5. Platform discrepancies: “While the actual voting took place on the platform provided by Election Buddy, i.e., electionbuddy.com, the live election results were exhibited on a completely different and unrelated platform, go.ecnba.org. Technical experts engaged by me find this rather curious and strange, and it questions the integrity of the results.”
6. Double voting incidents: “Many of our supporters reported that they woke up to emails acknowledging that their votes had been submitted even before they had the opportunity to cast their votes. Upon complaining, some of these supporters subsequently received another link to cast their votes.”
7. Extended voting period: “Despite the fact that the election was widely advertised to commence by 12:00 a.m. and end by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, July 20, 2024, voting continued into the early hours of Sunday, July 21, 2024, and the numbers of votes continued to increase.”
In light of these concerns, Erojikwe stated, “I am, at this time, unable to accept the election result announced by the ECNBA. Instead, I am immediately calling, in the first instance, for an official audit of the election result in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 8(c), Part 2, Second Schedule of the NBA Constitution.”
He emphasised, “This step has become necessary in order to ensure that we instill full faith and confidence in our electoral process within the NBA.”
As the situation unfolds, many in the legal community and Nigerians in general will be watching closely to see how the ECNBA responds to these allegations and whether an audit will indeed take place. The outcome of this controversy could have far-reaching implications for the NBA’s leadership and its role in upholding the rule of law in Nigeria.
