Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has strengthened her position in the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, maintaining a clear lead after voting eventually commenced following a cyberattack that initially disrupted the process.
The latest results released around 6:00 pm on Saturday indicate that 21,665 lawyers had cast their votes out of the 82,164 registered voters, representing a voter turnout of 26.37 per cent.
According to the figures published by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Badejo-Okusanya secured 9,930 votes, representing 45.82 per cent of the ballots counted so far.
Her closest rival, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, polled 6,708 votes, accounting for 30.99 per cent, while Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, received 5,021 votes, representing 23.21 per cent.
The updated tally places Badejo-Okusanya in a commanding position as voting and collation continue in what has been regarded as one of the most closely watched NBA presidential elections in recent years.
The election process, however, experienced an unexpected setback in the early hours of Saturday after the ECNBA announced an indefinite postponement of voting following a cyberattack on its electronic voting platform.
Voting had originally been scheduled to begin at exactly 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, but the process could not commence after the electoral committee disclosed that the platform had been targeted by external attackers in what it described as an attempt to compromise the integrity of the election.
In a statement jointly signed by the Chairman of the ECNBA 2026, Aham Ejelam, SAN, and the committee’s Secretary, Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa, Esq., the electoral body revealed that the electronic voting infrastructure came under what it described as a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack.”
The committee explained that the attack was specifically designed to disrupt, sabotage and undermine the conduct of the 2026 NBA national election.
Following the incident, the ECNBA said its cybersecurity experts, working alongside the Election Voting Service Provider (EVSP), immediately activated emergency security measures to isolate the threat and restore the integrity of the voting platform.
The committee assured eligible voters that no votes were accepted while the system was compromised and emphasised that voting only commenced after the platform had been fully secured.
The disruption generated anxiety among legal practitioners across the country, especially against the backdrop of previous concerns surrounding the election.
In the weeks leading to the poll, several stakeholders had expressed reservations over issues relating to voter verification, the reliability of the electronic voting process and the transparency of the overall election.
Despite the temporary disruption, the ECNBA insisted that the election remained under its full supervision throughout the incident.
The committee also stated that candidates, their accredited agents and election observers continued monitoring the exercise from the designated election monitoring centre while efforts were made to secure the platform.
With voting still ongoing, attention remains focused on whether Badejo-Okusanya will maintain her lead until the final results are announced or whether the remaining votes could alter the outcome of the contest.
