By Lillian Okenwa
In a judgment with implications far beyond the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2024 presidential election, the Court of Appeal has examined where electoral transparency ends and statutory privacy obligations begin, offering fresh judicial guidance for the digital age.
Long after ballots are cast and winners declared, election disputes often become contests over something deeper than victory or defeat. They raise questions about access to information, confidence in institutions and the legal limits of transparency. Those issues lay at the heart of a Court of Appeal judgment that could influence the conduct of electronic elections within professional associations across Nigeria.
In a carefully reasoned decision delivered in Abuja, the appellate court considered whether a candidate dissatisfied with the outcome of the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2024 presidential election could compel access to electronic election records, or whether the Association’s obligations under Nigeria’s data protection regime imposed lawful limits on such disclosure.
Although the appeal arose from one of the most closely watched elections in the history of the Bar, the issues before the court reach much further. As professional associations, labour unions and other membership organisations increasingly embrace electronic voting, the judgment provides important judicial guidance on the relationship between transparency, accountability and digital privacy.
The appeal was brought by Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe, who participated in the 2024 NBA presidential election and later sought access to a range of election materials following the declaration of the results. He argued that the records were necessary to examine the integrity of the electronic voting process and to verify aspects of the election.
Named as respondents were the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA), Mr. Oluseun Abimbola, SAN, and Election Buddy Inc., the technology company engaged to conduct the electronic election.
The litigation ultimately presented the Court of Appeal with issues that now confront many organisations adopting digital voting systems. How much information should an institution disclose after an election? Where does accountability end and the protection of personal data begin? Can every electronic record generated during an election be demanded by an aggrieved candidate, or are there legal limits imposed by statute?
Those questions increasingly arise as elections move from paper ballots to digital platforms. Institutions are expected to demonstrate that elections were conducted fairly, while simultaneously protecting the personal information of thousands of members whose data forms part of electronic voting systems.
The Court was therefore invited to reconcile two important public interests. One was the need for openness capable of sustaining confidence in electoral outcomes. The other was the statutory obligation to safeguard personal information entrusted to organisations conducting elections.
The significance of the judgment lies not merely in the outcome of the appeal, but in the legal principles it explores. Rather than treating transparency as an unrestricted entitlement or privacy as an absolute shield, the Court examined how both values should coexist within Nigeria’s evolving framework for electronic governance.
That discussion extends beyond the affairs of the NBA. Medical associations, engineering bodies, accounting institutes, academic unions and several other professional organisations now rely on electronic voting to elect their leaders. Questions concerning audit trails, access to digital records and the protection of members’ personal information are therefore likely to appear before Nigerian courts with increasing frequency.
For that reason, the Court of Appeal’s decision deserves attention beyond the legal profession. It contributes to a growing body of jurisprudence that will influence how electronic elections are conducted, challenged and defended in the years ahead.
The detailed reasoning of the Court—and what it means for the future of electronic elections in Nigeria—forms the focus of the next instalment of this special report.
Coming Next
Part II: Inside the Judgment — How the court balanced electoral transparency, digital privacy and accountability in the NBA election dispute
