In early April this year, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) released a Request for Proposals to be submitted by the 14th of April 2020 from experienced technology specialists in a bid to select a company to serve as IT consultant for the upcoming NBA national elections.
According to a source close to the ECNBA, various companies sent in their proposals, including a certain Inits Limited, whose Chief Technology Officer is Femi Taiwo. It would be recalled that Mr Femi Taiwo and his company hosted the server for the most recent Nigerian national elections conducted by INEC and were the butt of controversy around the now deleted INEC server that contained evidence of the results being collated electronically.
This, however, is not where the story ends. While the ECNBA was seeking proposals from the public through an open procurement system, a source close to the NBA Presidency reveals that the incumbent President of the NBA, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN informed the ECNBA that a platform had already been built for the elections by a certain Tavia Technology. We discovered that this Tavia Technology is the Technology Advisor for Access bank, a bank where Mr. Usoro, SAN sits as Director on the Board. Our source further revealed that Mr. Usoro, SAN had requested Tavia Technology to build and run a platform that would be used amongst other things, for e-voting. Tavia had however turned him down, stating that it was not in the business of conducting elections, so it only built the platform.
Our sources reveal that Mr. Usoro, SAN, in spite of the open procurement system sought to be carried out by the ECNBA, then approached Inits, the company of Mr. Femi Taiwo- on which the INEC server controversy still looms- to run and manage the platform built by Tavia Technologies. The platform in question has repeatedly been flagged since then by various IT security experts as being vulnerable to manipulation and rigging.
It is even further questionable that with less than 72 hours to the NBA elections, the ECNBA had not granted a meeting with the candidates ever before, and only granted a meeting with the candidates this evening for the first time. Furthermore, at the time of publishing this item, the electorate do not know how they would vote or even how the voting will be conducted, and we all know that voter education is key in any election. The candidates also do not understand the structure, operation or modalities of voting on the platform. Even worse, the ECNBA has remained mute on the vulnerabilities of the platform that has been pointed out by various IT security experts.
This brings up many questions: What indeed is the plan of the ECNBA? Why is Mr. Usoro, SAN, very heavily involved in the election process, especially considering that the charges recently filed against two individuals that allegedly rigged the election that brought him to office bring his occupation of the position into question? Why is the ECNBA acting all cloak and dagger with elections that are meant to be transparent, free and fair? Is the ECNBA out of their depth with the 2020 NBA national elections? Can we trust the ECNBA to be fair and independent? Can we trust them to conduct free and fair elections? Is there a grand plot to rig the NBA elections? Can Mr. Usoro, SAN remove his hand from the election cooking pot? And between the ECNBA and Mr Usoro, SAN, who is truly running the elections?
These questions should bring the ECNBA to the table again, if not for anything, for the sake of ensuring free and fair elections, and ensuring that the votes of the electorate count. If lawyers are to be given any respect in society, lawyers must lead the way in an activity like this.
