A chairmanship candidate in the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Gwagwalada Branch election, Hassan Luqman Olayiwola, Esq., has petitioned the NBA Branches Election Appeal Committee, North, alleging gross compromise, manipulation of the voters’ list and unfair electoral practices by the branch Electoral Committee.
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In a petition dated June 11, 2026, and addressed to the Chairman of the NBA Branches Election Appeal Committee, North, Olayiwola accused the Electoral Committee of abandoning its role as an independent umpire and allegedly pandering to the interest of his opponent, N. D. Abdulsalam.
The petitioner, who described himself as a duly cleared candidate for the office of Chairman of the NBA Gwagwalada Branch, alleged that the process had been compromised by administrative irregularities, inclusion of unverified names, alleged ghost voters, and failure of the Electoral Committee to comply with its own timetable.
According to him, a stakeholders’ meeting was held on June 10, 2026, involving the Chairman and Secretary of the Electoral Committee and the two chairmanship candidates. He alleged that at the meeting, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee intimidated his own Secretary in a manner calculated to suppress dissenting administrative views.
Olayiwola further alleged that during the meeting, Abdulsalam submitted a list of 11 persons whom he wanted added to the voters’ list, and that the Electoral Committee Chairman accepted the list without independent verification or investigation.
The names objected to by Olayiwola include Abdullahi Adamu, Imoedemhe Vincent, Goodness Moses, Janet Unini Abadaki, Blessing Ogah, Ekene Ogbajie, Evelyn Ajaka Omotolani, Perpetua Nkiruka Enyeobi, Emmanuel Amedu, Ibrahim Khadija and Prince Agboola Olamide.
He argued that it was improper for a candidate to dictate the composition of the voters’ list, especially where the affected persons had not personally lodged any complaints.
The petition also challenged the inclusion of nine other persons whom Olayiwola claimed had no registration records with the NBA Gwagwalada Branch.
The names listed for removal include Favour Ashiya Gankon, Hesseini Rukayah Jumai, Suleiman Suleiman, Nwanko Martha Chineye, Adaji Omada, Yvonne Ufuoma Odugala, Ekoja Thankgod Oche, Ekene Ogbajie and Motunrayo Naomi Taiwo.
In an earlier petition dated June 10, 2026, addressed to the Electoral Committee of the NBA Gwagwalada Branch, Olayiwola had specifically challenged what he described as the “Updated List of Eligible Voters” for the election, alleging that it contained ineligible persons, wrongly qualified voters, non-members of the branch and persons whose names were not traceable to the 2026 Certified True Copy of Bar Practising Fees payment records or the branch secretariat’s registration records.
He alleged, among other things, that some names on the list belonged to persons called to the Bar in 2025 whose local registration and branch financial records were untraceable.
He also alleged that one entry, Suleiman Suleiman, was an “absolute ghost” and among names earlier challenged by another lawyer, Godday Owobu, Esq.
Olayiwola further complained of what he described as structural defects in the updated voters’ list, including duplicate entries, faulty serial numbering and blank entries.
He alleged that Abraham Olushola Abisoye appeared twice on the list, while another person was allegedly duplicated under two different spellings as Chihurumoaya Okezie and Chihurunaya Okezie.
He also faulted what he described as blank and anonymous entries at serial numbers 229 and 230, warning that blank spaces on a final voters’ list could create room for manual insertion or substitution on election day.
The chairmanship candidate demanded that the Electoral Committee suspend the use of the disputed voters’ list, remove invalid names, correct duplications and cross-check every name against the official 2026 CTC of Bar Practising Fees payments made through the national portal.
In his June 11 petition to the Appeal Committee, Olayiwola also alleged that the Electoral Committee had failed to comply with its electoral timetable.
According to him, the election was originally scheduled for June 6, 2026, but the date passed without the conduct of the election and without any official communication to candidates or the branch congress explaining the failure or announcing an extension.
He said the absence of a clear election date, with the tenure of the current branch executive committee close to expiration, had created uncertainty and could trigger a constitutional crisis within the branch.
Olayiwola also raised concerns over alleged proxy voting and attendance register manipulation, claiming that proxies were being procured to write names on meeting attendance registers in order to build a fraudulent paper trail for absent persons.
He alleged that the plan was to use such records to justify the inclusion of unregistered or absent persons on the voters’ list and enable them to vote.
The petitioner further accused the Electoral Committee of allowing persons who allegedly paid Bar Practising Fees through other branches, but later paid local branch dues to Gwagwalada, to be treated as eligible voters.
He argued that payment of local branch dues could not cure a defect in BPF branch registration for the purpose of electoral eligibility under the NBA Constitution and Uniform Bye-Laws.
In his prayers, Olayiwola asked the Appeal Committee to dissolve the current Electoral Committee of the NBA Gwagwalada Branch, appoint a caretaker or reconstituted committee to independently verify the voters’ register, nullify the 20 names he described as smuggled and unverified, and set a clear electoral timetable in line with the NBA Uniform Bye-Laws.
He warned that failure to clean up the voters’ list and restore transparency to the process would leave him with no option but to pursue lawful and constitutional remedies within the administrative and judicial machinery of the Bar.
“Failure to clean this list immediately will leave me with no choice but to deploy all lawful and constitutional remedies available within the administrative and judicial machinery of the Bar to halt the conduct of the election until equity, transparency, and the rule of law are fully restored,” he stated in his petition to the Electoral Committee.
Copies of the petitions were sent to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the NBA 3rd Vice-President, the Chairman of the NBA Branch Elections Appeal Committee, North, the Chairman of the NBA Gwagwalada Branch Electoral Committee and the Chairperson of the branch Advisory Committee.
As of the time of this report, the Electoral Committee and the opposing candidate had not publicly responded to the allegations.
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