A group of Nigerian lawyers has launched the Reform the NBA campaign, calling for sweeping electoral and institutional reforms within the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the disputed presidential election held on July 18, 2026.
According to The Guardian, the campaign is demanding an independent forensic audit and a rerun of the presidential election under what it described as credible and independently verified safeguards.
In a statement issued by Maduka Onwukeme, Partner at ELIX LLP, the group argued that questions surrounding the conduct of the election should be resolved through verifiable evidence rather than competing narratives.
The campaign referenced the acknowledgment by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) that the electronic voting platform experienced significant technical failures on election day. According to the committee, the platform suffered database connection failures, authentication changes, server instability and authentication verification defects, resulting in voting being impossible for several hours before the exercise was suspended and migrated to an alternative platform.
While the ECNBA attributed the disruption to coordinated cyberattacks, The Guardian reports that the Reform the NBA campaign insists those claims should be independently examined through a comprehensive technical and forensic audit capable of determining what occurred and whether the electoral records support the declared outcome.
The campaign also questioned the election’s participation figures, noting that 26,184 out of 82,172 registered voters participated in the election, representing a turnout of 31.86 per cent.
According to the group, the 56,107 members who did not vote should not automatically be classified as apathetic or disenfranchised.
“The question is not simply who did not vote. It is how many eligible members were actually able to vote,” the campaign stated.
As part of its reform agenda, the group proposed four major measures for future NBA elections, including:
- Independent certification of electronic voting platforms before elections.
- Comprehensive authentication and capacity testing before voting begins.
- A publicly available protocol for handling platform failures during elections.
- Enforceable sanctions for electoral committees and service providers that fail to meet required technical and procedural standards.
The campaign maintained that the proposed reforms are intended to strengthen confidence in future NBA elections and prevent recurring disputes over the credibility of the Association’s electoral process.
According to The Guardian, the group said its campaign is focused on protecting the integrity of the NBA rather than advancing the interests of any particular candidate.
It also disclosed plans to publish additional information in the coming weeks regarding the July 18 election, issues arising from the electoral process and proposals for broader institutional reform within the Association.
Tags:
The Guardian, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, ECNBA, NBA Election, Reform the NBA, Maduka Onwukeme, Electronic Voting, Legal Profession, Electoral Reform
READ MORE:
- NBA Election Working Group Prepares for Osun Governorship Election
- NBA Receives Election Observation Materials from INEC
- NBA National Officers Election Appeals Committee Begins Sitting
- George Weah to Deliver Keynote at NBA AGC 2026
