A total of 82,213 lawyers across 139 branches of the Nigerian Bar Association are eligible to vote in the Association’s 2026 National Officers’ Elections scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The figure is contained in the final voters’ register published by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association pursuant to Item Seven of the revised election timetable issued on July 3, 2026.
The ECNBA said the register, published on Friday, July 10, had been frozen and would serve as the conclusive record of lawyers qualified to participate in the election.
It stated that no further additions, deletions or amendments would be accepted or processed under any circumstances, urging eligible members to confirm that their names appeared on the register.
However, the committee disclosed that 671 additional names were listed after the Zaria Branch under the category, “Legal Practitioners Who Paid Practising Fees Before the Deadline But Without Any Indication of Belonging to Any Branch.”
The ECNBA warned that the appearance of a lawyer’s name in that section did not automatically confer eligibility to vote.
It explained that membership of an NBA branch is a constitutional requirement for participation in the Association’s national elections.
The committee had earlier alerted members that the 671 affected practitioners paid their Bar Practising Fees before the deadline but had no branch affiliation recorded against their names.
According to the electoral body, the affected lawyers may only be permitted to vote after presenting satisfactory proof that they belong to a recognised NBA branch before election day.
They were advised to regularise their branch affiliation records and contact the ECNBA Secretariat through [email protected] without delay.
The committee also announced that a nationwide mock voting exercise and authentication readiness test would be conducted on Saturday, July 11, for verified voters to familiarise themselves with the electronic voting platform.
The outcome of the mock exercise will be reviewed on Monday, July 13, alongside a final systems and security audit and briefing for candidates and their agents.
All campaign activities by candidates and their supporters are expected to end at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 17, after which the electronic voting platform will enter a pre-election lockdown.
Voting will open at 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 18, and close at 11:59 p.m. the same day.
Eligible voters will be required to authenticate their identities using their Supreme Court Numbers and One-Time Passwords sent to their registered email addresses.
The ECNBA said the results would be declared on Sunday, July 19, 2026.
In the notice signed by its Chairman, Aham Ejelam, SAN, and Secretary, Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa, the committee reaffirmed its commitment to conducting a free, fair, transparent and credible election.
It urged all eligible lawyers to make themselves available to exercise their franchise within the designated 24-hour voting period.
