Human rights lawyer and prominent social activist Deji Adeyanju has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to draw practical blueprint lessons from the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) national elections, asserting that the exercise proves secure and transparent electronic voting is entirely achievable in Nigeria. Speaking immediately after casting his ballot in the lawyers’ national poll, Adeyanju heavily lauded the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) for organizing an exceptionally smooth and swift digital process.
The activist revealed that the entire process—spanning registration, voter verification, and the final ballot casting—took him less than two minutes to complete from his device. He noted that the ECNBA successfully deployed a foolproof security framework utilizing each lawyer’s unique Supreme Court enrolment number paired with a One-Time Password (OTP) verification system, ensuring a high level of transparency and eliminating multi-voting vulnerabilities.
“The ECNBA has demonstrated that secure electronic voting is possible, using each lawyer’s unique Supreme Court number and OTP verification,” Adeyanju stated. “INEC should closely observe this process and take lessons from it. Electronic voting can work efficiently and securely in Nigeria. The NBA election shows that electronic voting is achievable with the right systems.”
E-Voting vs. Manual Bottlenecks
Adeyanju emphasized that Nigeria’s national electoral umpire has run out of technical excuses for relying on logistics-heavy manual systems that leave room for manipulation.
| Electoral System Feature | NBA E-Voting System | Current INEC General Setup |
| Voter Verification | Unique ID + Secure OTP Verification | Physical Biometrics via BVAS |
| Time Spent Per Vote | Less than 2 minutes | Hours in queues at physical polling units |
| Ballot Processing | Real-time, fully automated electronic tallying | Manual voting + electronic result viewing (IReV) |
| Logistics Vulnerability | Nil (Cloud-hosted, decentralized user access) | High (Paper printing, physical transport risk) |
The vocal legal practitioner expressed strong hope that the current INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu—who is both a Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)—would actively participate in the ongoing bar association polls. Adeyanju argued that the INEC boss needs to witness the effectiveness of the ECNBA’s digital infrastructure firsthand to drive genuine institutional reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections. He concluded that embracing full-scale technology remains the ultimate weapon to restore public confidence, eliminate physical thuggery, and secure absolute transparency in the West African nation’s democratic processes.
