The ongoing 2026 Nigerian Bar Association National Elections have entered a crucial stage, with the latest live results dashboard showing Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, in early lead in the presidential race despite earlier delays, OTP complaints and technical concerns that trailed the commencement of voting.
According to the dashboard, Badejo-Okusanya had polled 8,311 votes, representing 44.66 per cent of votes cast for the office of President.
Other candidates currently leading in their respective positions include Chief Oghenero Okoro, Esq., for First Vice President; Egya Nuhu John, Esq., for Second Vice President; Pepple Iniobong Irene, Esq., for Third Vice President; Afam O. Okeke for General Secretary; Aghogho Gladys Okpomor for Assistant General Secretary; Esther Ifeoma Jimoh, Esq., for Treasurer; Audrey Chinelo Ofoegbunam for Welfare Secretary; Dr. Prince I. Azubuike for Publicity Secretary; Miss Hadiza Nasir Ahmad for Assistant Publicity Secretary; Chidi Betsy Nnaji for Eastern Zone; Rotimi Komolafe, Esq., for Western Zone; and Huwaila Muhammad Ibrahim for Northern Zone.
According to the live dashboard, the election had 82,164 registered voters, with 18,662 voters recorded as having voted, representing 22.71 per cent turnout as of the update displayed at 3:11:48 p.m. WAT on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The dashboard, which states that it updates every 10 seconds, is available through the ECNBA live results link: https://ecnba.org.ng/live/.
For the office of President, a total of 18,609 votes had been recorded. Badejo-Okusanya led with 8,311 votes, representing 44.66 per cent. Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, followed with 5,854 votes, representing 31.46 per cent, while Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, had 4,444 votes, representing 23.88 per cent.
In the race for First Vice President, where 17,517 votes had been recorded, Chief Oghenero Okoro, Esq., led with 7,423 votes, representing 42.38 per cent. Luqman Adekunle Laoye followed with 5,187 votes, representing 29.61 per cent, while Obajaja Onimisi Stephen had 4,907 votes, representing 28.01 per cent.
For Second Vice President, Egya Nuhu John, Esq., had 13,312 votes, representing 100 per cent of votes recorded for the position.
For Third Vice President, Pepple Iniobong Irene, Esq., had 13,843 votes, also representing 100 per cent of votes recorded for the position.
In the General Secretary race, where 18,056 votes had been recorded, Afam O. Okeke led with 5,884 votes, representing 32.59 per cent. Dr. Rapulu Ernest Nduka followed with 4,506 votes, representing 24.96 per cent, while Chidi Ezenwafor had 3,346 votes, representing 18.53 per cent. Okey Leo Ohagba had 3,007 votes, representing 16.65 per cent; Nnaebuka Onyebuchi Nwaeze had 770 votes, representing 4.26 per cent; while Barth Okoye-Aniche, Esq., had 543 votes, representing 3.01 per cent.
For Assistant General Secretary, Aghogho Gladys Okpomor was ahead with 10,274 votes, representing 57.18 per cent out of 17,968 votes recorded. Osato Uwagboe followed with 3,553 votes, representing 19.77 per cent; Tijjani Magaji, Esq., had 2,266 votes, representing 12.61 per cent; Benjamin Emeka Enyiagu, Esq., had 1,389 votes, representing 7.73 per cent; while Chiduabo Prince Henry Mamah, Esq., had 486 votes, representing 2.70 per cent.
For Treasurer, Esther Ifeoma Jimoh, Esq., had 15,757 votes, representing 100 per cent of votes recorded for the position.
In the Welfare Secretary race, where 17,644 votes had been recorded, Audrey Chinelo Ofoegbunam led with 10,559 votes, representing 59.84 per cent. Sir Oaikhena Osagie followed with 3,787 votes, representing 21.46 per cent. Akinwunmi Laleye, Esq., had 1,568 votes, representing 8.89 per cent; Chiwendu Ugochukwu, Esq., had 901 votes, representing 5.11 per cent; while Ernest Ezindu Uwanaka, Esq., had 829 votes, representing 4.70 per cent.
For Publicity Secretary, Dr. Prince I. Azubuike led with 10,496 votes, representing 61.74 per cent of 17,001 votes recorded. Lawrence Shegun Ayewa had 6,505 votes, representing 38.26 per cent.
For Assistant Publicity Secretary, where 17,695 votes had been recorded, Miss Hadiza Nasir Ahmad led with 7,031 votes, representing 39.73 per cent. Aki, Uwomano Anthony Junior, Esq., followed with 4,433 votes, representing 25.05 per cent; Meti Monday Ukpeh had 3,420 votes, representing 19.33 per cent; while Lukman Oladimeji Jaiyeola, Esq., had 2,811 votes, representing 15.89 per cent.
For the Eastern Zone, Chidi Betsy Nnaji (Mrs.) led with 7,457 votes, representing 17.39 per cent out of 42,874 votes recorded. Other results displayed showed Daniel Kip with 5,897 votes, Jane Omonor Apollos-James, Esq., with 5,843 votes, Dr. Ehujuo Kingsley Chukwunonso, Esq., with 5,641 votes, Assam Akpan Assam with 5,509 votes, Dr. Celestine Nwaokoma Nwankwo with 5,306 votes, Joy Obianuju Nnani, MCArb, with 4,659 votes, and Arinze Celestine Chukwu with 2,562 votes.
For the Western Zone, Rotimi Komolafe, Esq., was leading with 10,659 votes, representing 43.49 per cent out of 24,509 votes recorded. Precious Ndidi Nwadimuya, Esq., had 7,137 votes, representing 29.12 per cent, while Dhikrullah Adewale Balogun, Esq., had 6,713 votes, representing 27.39 per cent.
For the Northern Zone, Huwaila Muhammad Ibrahim led with 9,432 votes, representing 22.84 per cent out of 41,303 votes recorded. Friday O. Enejor, Esq., followed with 7,489 votes, representing 18.13 per cent; Bulus Y. Atsen, fsi, Esq., had 6,394 votes, representing 15.48 per cent; Kadir Temim, Esq., had 4,848 votes; Michael O. Olorunmola, Esq., had 4,836 votes; Onimisi Friday Umar, Esq., had 4,765 votes; while Ledak D. Dafer, Esq., had 3,539 votes.
The figures are live and provisional, and are subject to final confirmation and formal declaration by the ECNBA at the end of the voting process.
Meanwhile, the election was originally scheduled to commence at 12:00 a.m. WAT, but voting did not start at the appointed time after the ECNBA announced that the e-voting platform had suffered a coordinated cyberattack. The Committee later migrated the voting portal to a new domain and announced that voting would commence at 7:35 a.m. WAT, with the 24-hour voting window running from that time.
By the time of the live dashboard update at 3:11:48 p.m. WAT, voting had been ongoing for about 7 hours and 37 minutes, leaving about 16 hours and 23 minutes before the expected close of voting at 7:35 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, 2026, subject to any further official adjustment by the ECNBA.
The live dashboard showed 82,164 registered voters, with 18,662 voters recorded as having voted, representing 22.71 per cent turnout. This means that 63,502 voters, representing 77.29 per cent of registered voters, had yet to vote as of the dashboard update.
Despite the progress recorded on the live dashboard, some lawyers were still complaining that they had received OTPs but could not complete the voting process. Some said the platform returned error messages such as “The authentication session is invalid. Please request a new OTP,” while others said repeated attempts either failed or forced them to request fresh OTPs.
The development has sustained concerns among members over whether the authentication challenges are isolated technical glitches, browser-related issues, system overload, or deeper problems connected with the earlier reported cyberattack. Lawyers have continued to call on the ECNBA and its Election Voting Service Provider to provide clear technical explanations and assure members that all votes cast are secure, auditable and protected from backend manipulation.
