Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the only female candidate in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, has widened her lead in the race.
When this reporter checked the live election results portal at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, Badejo-Okusanya had polled 11,352 votes, representing 46.69 percent of the 24,314 votes cast in the presidential election. Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, also a SAN, followed with 7,415 votes (30.50 percent), while Olumuyiwa Akinboro, also a SAN, polled 5,547 votes (22.81 percent).
The live results portal showed that 24,384 of the 82,165 registered voters had voted as of 9:54 p.m., representing a 29.68 percent turnout.
How the Race Has Shifted There has been no remarkable shift in the standings of the individual candidates since this publication last reported from the results portal at 4:15 p.m. Of the three presidential candidates, only Badejo-Okusanya secured additional votes substantial enough to increase her share of the total votes cast.
The two other candidates saw only marginal rises in their vote counts, which settled at lower percentage shares compared to their standings six hours earlier.Within about six hours, Badejo-Okusanya’s votes increased from 9,053 to 11,352, adding roughly one and a half percentage points to her previous 45.18 percent share. During the same period, Akangbe increased his votes from 6,253 (31.27 percent) to 7,415 (30.50 percent), while Akinboro’s votes rose from 4,709 (23.54 percent) to 5,547 (22.81 percent).
The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) had not declared a final result as of the time of filing this report, as voting remained in progress. Voting Delayed by HoursThe lead followed a series of controversies that cast a shadow over the election before voting commenced on Saturday.
Electronic voting is expected to last 24 hours from its start time. Although scheduled to begin at 12:00 a.m. West African Time on Saturday, voting did not actually start until 7:35 a.m. This means voting is expected to close at 7:35 a.m. on Sunday, after which the final result can be determined.
According to the ECNBA, the delay was caused by what it described as a deliberate, coordinated effort, though further details on the cause were not available at the time of filing.
Results in Other National Office Races Results from other national offices also showed movement across the board. Chief Oghenero Okoro led the first vice president race with 10,186 votes (44.52 percent), while Afam O. Okeke was ahead in the general secretary contest with 7,880 votes (33.50 percent).
Aghogho Gladys Okpomor led the assistant general secretary race with 13,330 votes (56.74 percent). Esther Ifeoma Jimoh, the sole candidate for treasurer, had polled 20,440 votes as of the last check.
In other contests, Audrey Chinelo Ofoegbunam led the welfare secretary race with 13,852 votes (60.22 percent). Prince I. Azubuike was ahead in the publicity secretary race with 13,691 votes (61.92 percent), while Hadiza Nasir Ahmad led the assistant publicity secretary contest with 9,378 votes (40.65 percent).
For the General Council of the Bar elections, Chidi Betsy Nnaji led the Eastern Zone race with 9,831 votes, Rotimi Komolafe was ahead in the Western Zone with 13,839 votes, and Huwaila Muhammad Ibrahim topped the Northern Zone contest with 12,405 votes.
