ECNBA Interactive Session: Voting Portal Is Considered A Sensitive Election Item — ECNBA

*Information dissemination is important particularly in an electoral process like this nature — Adesina,SAN
*Tell us when the situation room will be open for logistics arrangement — Dr.Ajibade
*The infographic released by ECNBA referred us to the NBA WEBSITE — Akpata

The Election Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association(ECNBA) on Monday held an interactive session with some leaders of the bar and all the candidates for the 2020 general elections coming up tomorrow.

During the session which was held via Zoom, candidates were given time to ask questions. However, most of them had already sent in their questions to the committee before the session as was directed by the ECNBA.

Majority of the candidates lamented on why the committee has not disclosed the portal for the elections when the election is just 1 day to be held. They also raised the issue of not informing them to send in their IT representative and that the IT company that will handle the poll is yet unknown.

Former Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Christopher Adebayo Ojo, SAN, charged the committee to be transparent

He said “we are in the eyes of the whole world particularly in Nigeria, as we go into the election. We have always criticized various parties, governments in a way that elections are conducted. It is now for us to show how to do it and do it well. This entails that everybody must work to ensure that we have a successful free and fair election. In any contest, only one person can win and what is important is that all contestants should put in their best and ensure that the process is transparent, free, and fair. As long as these 3 elements are there, all the parties will accept the result of the election,” he said.

He charged the ECNBA to ensure that the whole process is transparent. To the candidates, he urged them to have the spirit of sportsmanship and to congratulate who wins the election and join hands to work with them to have a better Association.

The chairman further reiterated that ECNBA as a member of the committee and a stakeholder will ensure that the process is credible.

“We are members of the legal profession we are expected to be the beacon and show the right track to follow.”

Bayo Akinlade said he was expecting to see the technical guys on ground so that he can ask questions regarding the back end of the portal as every other contestant is interested as well.

One of the committee members, Mr. Alozie responding to some of the questions sent in by the contestants said that the voting will not be done using NBA Portal. “The chairman has not disclosed the platform for the voting because it is considered a sensitive election item.

“The protocol will be released to only those that have done verification and it is a do it yourself platform and everybody’s unique credential will be delivered to each voter. Under no circumstance should this credential be shared with any other person.

“The process is reliable and we can confidently tell you that it is an international architecture. We have only one umpire for this election which is ECNBA.

“The IT Consultant is not conducting the election, the responsibility lies only with the ECNBA,” he said.

Alozie also answered that the election can be monitored from anywhere in the world. “The agents of candidates will be welcomed into the situation room.

“There’s machinery in the pipeline that is already contacting candidates to send in the credentials of their agents and we have clear identification materials for the agents and people who have no business with us should not be around us”.

“You “MAY” be given the opportunity to monitor the election from any part of the world. It could be as transparent as that. Before the voting starts there will be proper voter’s education, directed to the people that will be voting.”

“There will be post-election voting audit and each voter will be presented with a “CERTIFICATE” as to the activities he carried on.

“You can self-audit the process and all the information you need for the voting will be given to you in good time”

The chairman also said that the finalist after the cleanup and verification which was done yesterday will be published.

“Now, on the issue of the publication of the voters’ list, yes, we know we had published a final list but we said in our statement that the list was being cleaned  because of the duplications, we are  supposed to publish a clean list after the outstanding verification, the backlog has been cleaned tonight, so that will be done.”

Olumide Akpata asked the committee to look closely to all the questions he sent to the committee and respond to them because the issue of transparent and credible process lies at the heart of every election and it must be felt by all participating in the process.

“The access to the portal is open and free to all. Maybe that is the point that some of us are trying to say.

“It is free to all to study and this is the first meeting we are holding in this entire process as we have two days to the election.

“We have not heard information. The only information we have is that the infographic released by yourself referred us to the NBA WEBSITE, where the election will be held.

“Some of us are concerned about the website and the fact that it appears vulnerable and that is why we called on experts to advice if the portal is secured,” he said.

However, he said the committee is not to be blamed for it but as a profession, we have to be very careful because the website may not be able to take the pressure that the committee wants to give it.

Dele Adesina SAN, asked why the ECNBA barred candidates from traveling for their campaigns as well as participating in virtual meetings when these are avenues they can use to sell themselves to members who do not know them. He noted that information dissemination is very important for people to make an informed decision, particularly in an electoral process like this nature.

The chairman in his response said the constitution, in Article 1(3)( f) &( g) provides how campaigns are to be carried out. And based on that they decided to go strictly by the provisions of the constitution.

“Our constitution has outlined clearly in Article 13(f&g) how campaigns for an election would be, we have decided to go strictly by the provisions of the constitution. Our profession is a noble one, consummative and our members are well enlightened so again we have decided to go strictly by the constitution and to which we have decided to strictly ensure that this year’s elections are held.”

Dr. Ajibade reminded the chairman that he indicated there will be a protocol advising the candidates as to the next steps for the elections. He asked when they are to receive the information since the time between now and the election is quiet short. He also asked when they are to expect the exact information as regards to the situation room and their representative.  He further asked when the situation room will be opened so that the candidates can make the necessary arrangements for their logistics.

In response, the chairman said he will communicate to candidates in the shortest possible time.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns that the zoom meeting was not wholly adequate, as representation of all members who wished to be part of the interactive session was impossible. This is because it could only contain and be accessible to 100 members which denied many others access to the virtual interactive session.