The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch has demanded an audit of the recently concluded NBA Elections, CITY LAWYER can report.

The demand was a fallout of a resolution by the branch at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held today in Lagos. Lagos Branch had the largest voting bloc during the election, with 13,448 voters on the list.

The resolution was preceded by a heated debate on the floor of the meeting, as members were divided on the call for audit or otherwise.

Following a motion calling for an audit of the election by the former branch chairman, Mr. Alex Muoka and a counter-motion, it took a hybrid voting to break the tie. While 215 members voted to demand an audit, 64 members voted against the motion.

CITY LAWYER recalls that the branch had invited Mr. Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN and Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe to address the AGM on the election. Both candidates, who are members of the branch, restated their reservations with the election and insisted on an audit of the election.

The Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) had however written to state that claims of double voting, identity theft, and discrepancies in vote counts and patterns were baseless.

CITY LAWYER recalls that the ECNBA had declared former NBA General Secretary, Mr. Afam Osigwe SAN as the winner of the presidential election. Osigwe polled 20,435 votes while Erojikwe polled 10,998 votes. Ikwuazom polled 9,018 votes, though he withdrew midstream during the election, citing some irregularities.