Segun Atanda/
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), becoming only the second woman to lead Nigeria’s foremost legal body in its over 90-year history.
Badejo-Okusanya secured a decisive victory in the NBA’s 2026 national officers’ election, defeating fellow Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Lateef Akangbe and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, in a fiercely contested poll that overcame technical glitches and a cyberattack.
Announcing the results at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja today, Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam, SAN, disclosed that Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast.
Her closest rival, Akangbe, garnered 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while Akinboro received 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent).
Ejelam said 26,106 lawyers participated in the election, describing the process as a significant democratic exercise despite unprecedented challenges.
With the victory, Badejo-Okusanya will serve a two-year term from 2026 to 2028, succeeding Afam Osigwe, SAN.
She also becomes the second female President of the NBA, following Priscilla Kuye, who led the association between 1991 and 1992, marking another milestone for gender representation in the legal profession.
Other officials elected into the NBA national executive include Oghenero Okoro as First Vice-President, Afam Okeke as General Secretary, Aghogho Gladys as Assistant General Secretary, and Chinelo Audrey Ofoegbunam as Welfare Secretary.
The president-elect was not present when the results were announced.
Explaining her absence, a member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya, SAN, attributed it to a flight delay, adding that Badejo-Okusanya was already reaching out to her opponents in a bid to foster reconciliation and unity within the association.
He said the incoming president was committed to extending a “handshake of friendship” to all candidates and stakeholders to ensure a united Bar.
Speaking after the declaration of results, the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, revealed that the election survived concerted efforts to undermine the process, including a cyberattack that forced the Electoral Committee to rebuild and migrate its ICT infrastructure to a more secure server.
“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 leadership to be magnanimous in victory while appealing to unsuccessful candidates to support the new administration in the interest of the profession.
“The cyberattack shows that we must do more in data protection. Let us collectively do things in an acceptable manner.
“Someday, the story will be told of how this election was almost sabotaged.
“We must continue to uphold the rule of law, and the NBA, as an association of lawyers, must always retain the ability to determine its own electoral process. Where mistakes were made, I believe my successor will improve on them.
“Winners should extend the hand of fellowship to those who lost. The unity of the Bar cannot and should never be negotiated.
“As I bow out of office, I wish the new executive every success. May we never witness a time when those who lead the Nigerian Bar are elected by people other than lawyers,” he said.
Osigwe also announced that the Electoral Committee would undertake a comprehensive post-election review to evaluate the challenges encountered during the poll, strengthen confidence in future NBA elections, and reinforce the association’s cybersecurity architecture and electoral integrity.
Badejo-Okusanya’s emergence is widely seen as a defining moment for the Nigerian Bar, not only because of its historic significance for women in the legal profession but also because it comes at a time when the association is seeking to rebuild confidence in its electoral process and reinforce unity among its members.
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