Senior Advocate becomes second woman to lead the Nigerian Bar Association • Defeats Akangbe, Akinboro in delayed election • Outgoing president reveals poll survived cyberattack, attempted sabotage
By Jane Okafor, Abuja
ABUJA – Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, on Sunday emerged as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), making history as only the second woman to lead the country’s foremost legal body in its over six-decade existence.
Badejo-Okusanya won the keenly contested 2026 NBA national officers’ election with 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast, defeating two fellow Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Her closest rival, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, secured 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, polled 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent).
Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam, SAN, declared the results at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja after an election that was delayed by technical difficulties and a cyberattack that disrupted the process.
Ejelam disclosed that a total of 26,106 votes were cast, with the president-elect set to serve a two-year tenure from 2026 to 2028.
The victory marks a watershed moment for the legal profession, as Badejo-Okusanya becomes the first woman to occupy the office since Priscilla Kuye, who served as NBA President between 1991 and 1992.
Also elected into the association’s national executive are 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.
Although Badejo-Okusanya was absent at the announcement of the results due to a flight delay, a member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya, SAN, said the president-elect was already reaching out to her opponents and remained committed to fostering unity within the Bar.
“She is determined to extend a handshake of friendship to all aggrieved candidates because the task ahead requires a united Bar,” Gadanya said.
In his farewell remarks, outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, disclosed that the election survived what he described as deliberate 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. In the build-up to this election, many went to great lengths to rubbish the association,” Osigwe said.
He called on the newly elected officers to be magnanimous in victory and urged unsuccessful candidates to support the incoming administration in the interest of the legal profession.
According to him, the cyberattack underscored the urgent need for stronger data protection measures and a more resilient electoral system for the association.
Osigwe also announced that the ECNBA would undertake a comprehensive post-election review to address the challenges encountered during the exercise, strengthen cybersecurity safeguards and restore confidence in future NBA elections.
“The unity of the Bar cannot and should never be negotiated,” he declared, expressing optimism that the new leadership would build on the lessons of the 2026 election to further strengthen the association and uphold the rule of law.
