BREAKING: Badejo-Okusanya Emerged as First Elected Female President of NBA

Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has been elected as the 33rd President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Badejo-Okusanya becoming the first woman to be elected NBA president but second woman to lead the legal body in its over six-decade history after Mrs. Priscilla Kuye who served from 1991 to 1992.

She emerged victorious in the NBA’s 2026 national officers’ election after defeating two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria in a closely contested poll.

The Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam, SAN, announced the results at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja on Sunday after the election, which experienced delays caused by technical difficulties and a cyberattack.

According to the results, Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast, defeating her closest rival, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, who polled 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent).

The third candidate, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, received 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 per cent. Ejelam disclosed that a total of 26,106 votes were recorded during the election.

Advertisement

With her victory, Badejo-Okusanya will lead the NBA for a two-year term from 2026 to 2028. Other officials elected during the exercise include Oghenero Okoro as First Vice-President with 11,024 votes, Afam Okeke as General Secretary with 8,478 votes, Aghogho Gladys as Assistant General Secretary with 14,312 votes, and Chinelo Audrey Ofoegbunam as Welfare Secretary with 14,911 votes.

The president-elect was absent when the results were announced. Explaining her absence, a member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya, SAN, said she was delayed by flight issues but remained committed to uniting the association.

He said Badejo-Okusanya was prepared to extend a “handshake of friendship” to all aggrieved candidates in the interest of strengthening the unity of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Speaking after the announcement, the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, revealed that the election overcame attempts to disrupt the process, including a cyberattack that forced the electoral committee to migrate its ICT infrastructure to a more secure server.Executive Branch “Our colleagues planned to truncate the election, but we stood firm. Every effort to derail this process failed.

This is a trying time for the Bar. In the build-up to this election, many went to great lengths to rubbish the association,” Osigwe said.

He urged the newly elected officers to be gracious in victory while encouraging unsuccessful candidates to rally behind the new leadership.

Advertisement

“To those who won, be magnanimous in victory; for those who lost, there is always another day. The cyberattack shows that we must do more in data protection. Let us collectively do things in an acceptable manner,” he added.

(The News Guru)