Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), becoming only the second woman to lead the country’s foremost legal body.
The senior lawyer secured victory in the association’s 2026 national officers’ election, defeating two fellow SANs in a keenly contested poll that was disrupted by technical glitches and a cyberattack.
Announcing the results at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja on Sunday, Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam (SAN), said Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total ballots cast.
Her closest challenger, Lateef Akangbe (SAN) received 7,934 votes, accounting for 30.39 per cent, while Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) garnered 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 per cent.
According to Ejelam, a total of 26,106 votes were cast during the election.
The president-elect will serve a two-year tenure from 2026 to 2028.
Her emergence also marks a significant milestone in the association’s history, as she becomes the first woman to occupy the office since Priscilla Kuye, who served as NBA president between 1991 and 1992.
The election also produced other national officers. Oghenero Okoro emerged as First Vice-President with 11,024 votes, while Afam Okeke was elected General Secretary after polling 8,478 votes.
Aghogho Gladys won the office of Assistant General Secretary with 14,312 votes, and Chinelo Audrey Ofoegbunam secured the position of Welfare Secretary with 14,911 votes.
Badejo-Okusanya was not present when the results were announced.
Explaining her absence, a member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya, SAN, said she had a delayed flight schedule.
He added that the president-elect was committed to fostering unity within the association by reaching out to all candidates who participated in the election.
Reacting to the successful conclusion of the exercise, outgoing NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, revealed that the election withstood several attempts to disrupt the process, including a cyberattack that forced the ECNBA 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 officers to govern inclusively and appealed to unsuccessful contestants to rally behind the incoming leadership in the interest of the association.
“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 said.
Osigwe further disclosed that the association would undertake a comprehensive review of the electoral process, particularly the challenges encountered during the exercise, with the aim of strengthening future elections and improving cybersecurity measures.
He maintained that the unity of the legal profession must remain paramount, expressing confidence that the incoming administration would address identified shortcomings and build on the achievements of the outgoing leadership.
The process had been dogged by many controversies, with Egbe Amofin O’dua, the umbrella body of Yoruba lawyers, calling for its outright postponement, citing credibility concerns
