Badejo-Okusanya Emerges 33rd NBA President

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), defeating two other senior lawyers in the association’s 2026 national officers’ election.

 

Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam (SAN), announced the results on Sunday at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja after an election delayed by technical challenges and a cyberattack.

 

Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast, ahead of Lateef Akangbe (SAN), who polled 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) garnered 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent).

 

Ejelam disclosed that 26,106 votes were cast in the election.

 

With the victory, Badejo-Okusanya will serve a two-year term from 2026 to 2028, becoming only the second woman to lead the NBA after Priscilla Kuye, who served as president from 1991 to 1992.

 

Other officials elected 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.

 

Badejo-Okusanya was absent during the announcement of the results. However, a member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya (SAN), attributed her absence to a flight delay and said the president-elect was committed to fostering unity by extending “a handshake of friendship” to all aggrieved candidates.

 

Speaking after the announcement, outgoing NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN) said the election withstood attempts 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,” Osigwe said.

 

He urged the newly elected officers to be magnanimous in victory and called on unsuccessful candidates to support the new leadership in the interest of the association.

 

Osigwe also disclosed that the ECNBA would undertake a comprehensive review of the election, particularly the challenges encountered, to strengthen future electoral processes, improve cybersecurity and enhance confidence in the NBA’s electoral system.