The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) has announced an indefinite delay in the commencement of voting for the 2026 NBA National Elections following what it described as a coordinated cyberattack on its electronic voting platform.
Voting was scheduled to begin at 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 18, 2026, but the process could not commence after the electoral body said external actors targeted the system in an attempt to compromise the credibility of the election.
In a statement released in the early hours of Saturday, the ECNBA apologised to candidates, eligible voters, agents, consultants and observers, revealing that the e-voting platform was hit by a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack.”
The committee said the attack was designed to disrupt, sabotage and undermine the 2026 NBA electoral process, describing it as a direct attack on its technical infrastructure.
According to the ECNBA, its cybersecurity team and the Election Voting Service Provider (EVSP) have activated emergency security measures to contain the threat and restore the platform.
“The system is expected to be fully restored and voting will commence immediately upon restoration,” the committee stated.
The electoral body stressed that voting had not started and that no votes were being received when the announcement was made. It assured members that the voting portal would be reopened once the platform had been secured.
The ECNBA advised lawyers nationwide to wait for further official updates before attempting to access the voting portal.
It also cautioned members against using any platform apart from its official voting portal, www.ecnbaovs.org.ng, warning that alternative links or messages could be part of the cyberattack campaign.
Despite the disruption, the committee said all candidates, agents and observers remained at the designated monitoring centre and that the electoral process was still being supervised.
The incident has raised concerns among NBA members as the election is expected to determine the association’s next national leadership.
The ECNBA reiterated its commitment to conducting a credible election and promised to continue providing updates through its official channels as efforts to restore the system continue.
The statement was signed by the ECNBA 2026 Chairman, Aham Ejelam, SAN, and the committee’s Secretary, Ibrahim Nassarawa.