Crisis on Friday rocked the planned election of the Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch, forcing the indefinite postponement of the exercise.
The election, which was scheduled to hold at the NBA House in Port Harcourt, was disrupted following disagreements over the electoral process, particularly the handling and publication of the voters’ register.
The development attracted heavy security presence at the venue, with armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services deployed to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
Some candidates in the election expressed dissatisfaction with the process, accusing the Electoral Committee of failing to comply with the branch’s bye-laws.
One of the candidates for the position of Social Secretary, Chilezie Oluolu, alleged that the final voters’ list was released very late on Thursday night, barely hours before the scheduled poll.
According to him, the Electoral Committee published the final voters’ list between 10:45 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the eve of the election, without prior engagement with candidates on the modalities for the poll.
Oluolu argued that the branch’s bye-laws require the final voters’ list to be published at least 14 days before the election, to allow members to review the list, understand the election procedure and nominate agents ahead of the exercise.
“To everyone’s surprise, yesterday night, around 10:45 p.m. to 11 p.m., they published the final voters’ list. Meanwhile, we have never had any conversation as to the modalities for the election, and the bye-laws say that if you’re publishing a final voters’ list, you must give 14 days before the election,” he said.
He added that the period was also expected to allow the committee to brief members, explain the voting process and meet with agents before the election.
“Yet they published it and said the election must hold this morning. The publication announcing the election came out last night, as well as the final voters’ list. And we are saying that is not how it should be. We are not satisfied,” Oluolu said.
As the disagreement escalated, some candidates staged a walkout in protest against the process.
Efforts by some officials to calm the situation were unsuccessful, and the election was eventually postponed indefinitely to prevent a possible breach of the peace.
The Electoral Committee has yet to announce a new date for the election.
A former Chairman of the NBA Port Harcourt Branch, Prince Nyekwere, confirmed the postponement, saying no new date had been fixed.
“They have not given us a new date yet,” he said.
