Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Afam Osigwe, has criticised lawyers and candidates alleging that the association’s national officers’ election would be rigged, describing the claims as politically motivated and lacking evidence.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday ahead of the commencement of voting, Osigwe said it was wrong to accuse the electoral process of being compromised before the exercise had even begun.
He maintained that members of the legal profession should avoid making allegations they cannot substantiate, noting that previous election petitions alleging irregularities had been dismissed by the courts.
According to him, the repeated claims of planned election rigging are aimed at influencing public opinion and undermining confidence in the electoral process.
Osigwe urged lawyers to focus on issues affecting the legal profession instead of spreading accusations capable of damaging the reputation of individuals and the association.
Responding to claims that he had endorsed a preferred presidential candidate, the NBA president said the Electoral Committee operates independently and does not receive instructions from him. To further demonstrate his neutrality, he announced that he would abstain from voting in the election.
He also disclosed that the NBA invited the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), as well as foreign technical experts, to independently monitor and assess the integrity of the election system.
Osigwe questioned why critics who had demanded transparency were now objecting to independent scrutiny of the voting process.
The NBA president further revealed that the managing director of one of the association’s election service providers, who was earlier detained by the DSS, had been released. He expressed concern that a laptop containing election-related data was seized during the arrest, adding that measures had been taken to ensure the integrity of the election would not be compromised.
On calls to introduce National Identification Number (NIN) verification for voting, Osigwe said the proposal could prevent some members, particularly married female lawyers with name discrepancies, from participating in the election.
He added that the NBA had also agreed to replace email-based one-time passwords (OTPs) with SMS verification, despite the additional financial cost, to address concerns raised by some candidates and improve confidence in the electoral process.
