Lawyers Network Against Corruption Congratulates NBA On Successful Election, Charges President-Elect To Strengthen Universal Suffrage And Electoral Process

The Lawyers Network Against Corruption has congratulated the members of the Nigerian Bar Association on the successful conduct of the 2020 National Elections.

In a statement issued by Mr. Chika Igwe, dated 4th August, 2020, LAWNAC stated that “The 2020 NBA National Elections is widely adjudged as one of the most transparent elections in the annals of the NBA.

We monitored the polls from our situation room and our audit of the process reveals that the 3rd Party Voting Platform was indeed independent and free from manipulation.

In compliance with international best practices, the Voting Platform employed a 2-factor authentication to protect the integrity of the ballot.

First, the Accreditation code was generated by an algorithm that used the Supreme Court Number of all eligible voters as a Unique Identifier thereby shutting the door on potential hacking.

Secondly, Votes cast were subsequently confirmed and authenticated with a secure code which was promptly dispatched upon vote submission. This took care of multiple voting and also created an audit trail that validated the legitimacy of each votes cast.

Our analysis of the voting pattern throughout the exercise showed that votes were cast organically and the final figure was a true reflection of the popularity of the various candidates and the will of the majority of the members of the NBA. In point of fact, Mr. Olumide Akpata emerged fair and square as the winner of the Presidential contest.

We can safely conclude that notwithstanding some initial hitches, the polls were largely fair and transparent. There is no evidence that any candidate enjoyed an undue advantage or suffered undue harm. Universal Suffrage by way of Internet voting is relatively new and there are bound to be growing pains as the system comes of age. The NBA cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater but must continue to strengthen democratic systems and institutions.

We urge the other candidates to join hands with other members of the NBA to build a stronger legal profession and promote the rule of law. LAWNAC will continue to advocate for due process and fight against corruption in the legal profession and in Nigeria.”