CLARIFICATION ON PRELIMINARY VOTERS REGISTER AND 2026 NBA ELECTION PROCESS

The Nigerian Bar Association ICT Department has noted certain publications and comments concerning the Preliminary Voters Register for the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association National Officers Election. In order to ensure that members are properly informed and that the electoral process is not misrepresented, the Department considers it necessary to clarify the relevant issues.

The register recently published is the Preliminary Voters Register, prepared strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Bar Association Constitution 2015, as amended in 2025. It contains the names of legal practitioners who paid their Annual Practising Fees on or before 31 March 2026, being the constitutional threshold for eligibility to vote in the forthcoming election.

Accordingly, the appearance of any eligible member’s name on the Preliminary Voters Register is neither irregular nor suspicious. It is the direct and proper consequence of meeting the constitutional requirement for voting eligibility.

It has also been suggested that the published register is merely a list of Bar Practising Fee payers and not a list of accredited voters. This distinction is without constitutional foundation. Under the NBA Constitution, eligibility to vote is determined by compliance with the prescribed Annual Practising Fee requirement. It is not dependent on whether a member responded to, participated in, or completed an administrative verification exercise.

The verification and correction exercise was introduced to enable eligible members review and update their contact information, including telephone numbers and email addresses, before the register is finalised. It was not designed as an opt-in process for the electoral roll. Any interpretation suggesting otherwise would improperly and unconstitutionally exclude eligible members who did not engage with correspondence issued during the verification period.

The ICT Department also wishes to address allegations relating to proxy voting. Such allegations are technically untenable.

The NBA electronic voting platform requires every voter to authenticate his or her vote using the voter’s Supreme Court Number and a One-Time Password issued in real time to the voter’s registered telephone number or email address at the point of voting. The One-Time Password is single-use and time-limited. Consequently, no person can cast a vote on behalf of another person without having live access, at the relevant moment, to that voter’s registered phone line or email inbox.

Consequently, no person can cast a vote on behalf of another person without having live access, at the relevant moment, to that voter’s registered phone line or email inbox.

The published Preliminary Voters Register contains only the names and branches of eligible members. It does not disclose email addresses, telephone numbers, Supreme Court Numbers or any other authentication credentials. The publication of the register therefore provides no information or facility by which proxy voting can be undertaken.

For the same reason, the appearance of the names of deceased members, where such names may be identified during the correction process, does not create any opportunity for electoral fraud. A name alone cannot generate a vote. Voting can only occur upon successful authentication through the real-time delivery and use of a valid One-Time Password to the voter’s registered communication channel.

Members are further reminded that the entire electoral process, including the election timetable, notices, appointment of service providers, sensitisation activities, verification procedures and publication of the Preliminary Voters Register, has been conducted openly and in accordance with the NBA Constitution. These processes remain matters of public record.

The ICT Department therefore urges members to disregard claims suggesting that the voters register is fraudulent, padded, or capable of enabling proxy voting. Such claims are unfounded, technically inaccurate and legally misconceived.

The Final Voters Register will be published on Friday, 10 July 2026, following the conclusion of the verification and correction window.

The 2026 Nigerian Bar Association National Officers Election will hold on Saturday, 18 July 2026.

Members are encouraged to rely on official communications of the Nigerian Bar Association and to continue to engage responsibly with the electoral process.

• This text was originally published at NBA BLOG

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