Gadzama Campaign Organisation calls for shift in NBA elections

(Nigeria) Two days to the scheduled Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, national elections to be conducted by the Electoral Committee of the association, ECNBA, the Think Tank  J-K Gadzama SAN Campaign Organisation, has called for the shift in the date of the elections, so as accommodate all the updates in the voters register to make sure that eligible voters were not disenfranchised in the process.

Prof. Maxwell Gidado, SAN, a member of Think Tank  J-K Gadzama  SAN Campaign Organisation, who addressed a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday, “This is because as a leading professional Association, the NBA is supposed to act as the conscience of the Nation and show examples especially in issues of democratic practices.

“The introduction of the 'universal suffrage' under the extant NBA Constitution is commendable as it empowers every lawyer equal participation in the choice of the Association’s leadership. Regrettably, this noble ideal is being negated by certain actions and/or inactions, many of which we have hitherto chronicled and brought to the attention of both the ECNBA and the NBA President to correct, viz:

Lack of transparency/brazen show of partnership

“The brazen show of preference for and serious capital and human resource investment into promoting one candidate over another undermines the integrity of the entire elections. President’s actions and utterances at several fora and on National Television whereby he openly canvassed support for his preferred candidate, vilified and cast aspersions on the other dampen confidence of objective minded lawyers to repose confidence in the ability his appointed ECNBA to deliver free, fair and credible elections.

Shoddy preparation by the ECNBA:

“It is a fact that many members of the Association who have met the basic requirement for voting (i.e. payment one's Bar Practising Fee and Branch Due for 2016 on or before March 31, 2016) still do not have their names captured in the Voters Register which was uploaded on the NBA website since June 22, 2016 even though such names were forwarded by the Branches to the National Secretariat.

There are also instances of multiple registrations; names appearing in multiple branches; names of persons appearing in branches whose chairmen have disavowed, etc.

“It is alarming that as at today when the election is just two days away the final Voters Register is not yet ready. This is in breach of Article 2.3 (d) of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution 2015 which provides that:

"The full list of all legal practitioners qualified to vote shall be published by ECNBA in conjunction with the National Secretariat of the NBA at least twenty eight (28) days before the date of the election."

“Notwithstanding that the NBA Secretariat is in possession of the complete data base of lawyers obtainable following the issuance of Stamps and Practice Licences to lawyers on fulfilment of those same requirements stipulated for eligibility to vote, Branches are as at this moment still being required to submit the said data to the ECNBA.

Electronic voting

“Article 2.4 (a) of the NBA Constitution 2015 provides that "Voting at the election SHALL be by electronic means (E-Voting)." Article 2.4 (c) further gives the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) power to "...issue guidelines for conduct of electronic voting, which shall amongst other things provide for verification of voters, place, time and platform to be utilised for electronic voting for each particular election year taking into consideration the state of available technology and Information Technology infrastructure of the branches in order to afford all registered voters the opportunity to votes. [emphasis supplied by us].

“The last two elections of Abuja Branch have  been by E-Voting which uses cards at a designated location (and not over the internet) and they have been relatively free, fair, transparent and credible although there is room for improvement on it. We are aware that other branches also used the same method. This is the spirit and letter of Article 2.4 (c) of the NBA Constitution quoted above which appears to stipulate the holding of E-Voting at each Branch taking into consideration the peculiarity of the IT infrastructure of the branches.

“The total sum of the foregoing is that the ECNBA is not yet ready for this election and it is better to address all these issues and for the President to allay these justifiable fears before the election in order to prevent a repeat of the sad event of 1992 in Port Harcourt especially as this year's AGC is also scheduled to hold in that same city.

We list them below:

What measures have been taken to build trust among stakeholders and voters in the development of the Internet Voting platform?

What technical solutions have been put in place to respect the secrecy and security of ballots cast?

What efforts have been made to ensure and enhance accessibility for all voters?

How does Internet Voting affect accessibility for different branches, who may have highly unequal internet access?

If inequalities are discovered are there alternative means by which voters disadvantaged by internet voting can cast their ballots?

To address reduced transparency associated with internet voting, what measures have been adopted to ensure that votes cast at branches are confirmed and authenticated?

Will there be an audit trail of votes cast? Will such trail be independently verifiable?

Has this software or program been tested for integrity and functionality? If yes where are the results? Did any independent expert validate the integrity of those results?

What is the assurance that voters’ identity or votes cannot be stolen or changed by sponsored hackers or cyber criminals or even by unscrupulous system administrators?

When the ECNBA insists that there will be no collation at the branches, but only at the centre, and that results will not be declared until at least two days have passed, what exactly do they have in mind?

We believe that it is only when these questions are answered clearly fully, and positively that the NBA elections can be truly free, fair and credible.

We therefore urge the ECNBA to shift the date of the elections so as accommodate all the updates in the voters register to make sure that eligible voters are not disenfranchised in the process.