Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya becomes the first woman elected NBA president

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya has emerged as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

She stands as only the second female president in the NBA's 66-year history, re-enacting a milestone last reached 35 years ago when Dame Priscilla Kuye led the association from 1991 to 1992.

"I recognize the immense weight of this mandate. My administration will extend a handshake of friendship to all candidates as we collectively work to reform the bar, prioritize the welfare of legal practitioners, and lead the NBA with absolute integrity."
— Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN

The electronic ballot, which ran for 24 hours from Saturday, July 18, to Sunday, July 19, 2026, proved to be one of the most keenly contested races in recent memory. Badejo-Okusanya, who was the sole female presidential contender, successfully defeated two formidable male Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

The victory did not come without intense drama. The electronic voting process was initially thrown into chaos at midnight on Saturday when external actors launched a coordinated cyberattack against the ECNBA voting portal.

The attack forced an emergency shutdown and an indefinite delay. Once the technical teams successfully isolated the threat and deployed tougher security patches, voting commenced late, ultimately recording a 31.86% total voter turnout out of 82,172 registered eligible voters.

Badejo-Okusanya's was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002, she holds an LL.M. in Commercial and Corporate Law from Queen Mary University of London. She is a founding partner at Africa Law Practice NG & Company (ALP NG & Co.) and previously served as the Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform to the former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola. She reached the zenith of the profession on September 29, 2025, when she was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The newly elected national executives are set to be officially inaugurated for their two-year terms (2026–2028) during the NBA Annual General Conference taking place from August 21 to August 28 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where outgoing president Afam Osigwe, SAN, will hand over the reins.

What are your thoughts on this historic milestone for the Nigerian Bar Association and the emergence of its first elected female president? Drop your comments below!

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