Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), becoming the first elected woman to head the body and the second to be in charge.
Though the first NBA female president was Dame Priscilla Olabori Kuye, she was the vice president to Clement Akpamgbo, NBA president, when Akpamgbo was appointed Attorney General of the Federation during the Babangida military junta, Kuye, automatically moved in as the president to replace Akpamgbo. This made Badejo-Okusanya to be the association’s first elected female NBA president.
Richard Akinnola, a legal practitioner and author argued, “If the botched 1992 Port Harcourt conference/election had held and Kuye won, she could have been the first elected president of the NBA. With her election now, Badejo-Okusanya has emerged as the first elected female president and the second woman president”.
Put differently, Badejo-Okusanya is 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, 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.
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.
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.
