EBF Rejects NBA 2018 Election Result

The Eastern Bar Forum has condemned the just concluded election process leading to the declaration of the National Bar Association (NBA) president.

The group made this known through a statement signed by its Governor, Chief Arthur Elvis Chukwu, after a stakeholders meeting held on Wednesday 22nd of August, 2018 in Hotel De Copperfield, Asaba, Delta State.

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Spelling out the reason behind the rejection of the result, the group said it had previously faulted the idea of contracting CHAMPS PLC as the elections IT provider as the company is related to one of the presidential aspirant and may initiate some sort of biases and controversy to the voting process.

Despite EBF’s suggestion, CHAMPS PLC was launched on board leading to some irregularities like a seven-hour delay in commencement of the process, and over 3000 disenfranchised verified voters.

In addition, there were numerous reports of voter’s identity theft, and thousands of voters not being able to vote as their password was not sent to them until after the conclusion of the process.

However, the forum said that the Nigerian Bar Association Election Committee (ECNBA) declared winners without a proper election audit, urging them to carry out an independent post-election audit by a legit international firm following the previously agreed guidelines.

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Founded in 2004 to cater for lawyers from Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, and Ebonyi, EBF criticised NBA for its inability to conduct elections without compromise, lamenting the consequences of the association’s action on its members and the masses.

On the other hand, EBF applauded bar leaders across Nigeria for their continued support and called for their intervention to prevent the disintegration of NBA.

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