Tinubu congratulates Badejo-Okusanya, first elected female NBA president

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on her election as the first elected female president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

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In a statement on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu described her emergence as a watershed in the legal profession and a triumph for merit, excellence and gender inclusion.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mrs Badejo-Okusanya won the election held between Saturday and Sunday, polling 12,317 votes to defeat two other SANs, Lateef Akangbe and Olumuyiwa Akinboro.

Mr Akangbe polled 7,934 votes to finish second, while Mr Akinboro came third with 5,855 votes.

Mrs Badejo-Okusanya secured 47.18 per cent of the votes cast in the presidential election, according to the final tally on the live results dashboard of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).

The election was held amid controversy over the conduct of the poll and the electronic voting system.

Voting, which was scheduled to begin at midnight on Saturday, did not start until 7:35 a.m. The ECNBA blamed the delay on what it described as a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack” on the voting platform.

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The poll had also been preceded by legal and administrative disputes, including concerns about the composition of the ECNBA and the credibility of the voters’ register.

The Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, eventually cleared the way for the election after overturning an order of the Oyo State High Court restraining the ECNBA from conducting it.

The election recorded 26,184 votes across the 13 national officers’ positions, representing 31.86 per cent of the 82,172 registered voters. The turnout was lower than the more than 40,000 votes recorded in the 2024 NBA election.

President Tinubu, in his congratulatory message, stated that Mrs Badejo-Okusanya’s career had been marked by integrity, professionalism and a commitment to justice.

He said her election reflected the growing recognition of women’s contributions to nation-building and the administration of justice.

The president expressed confidence that her leadership would strengthen the legal profession, promote access to justice and support reforms in the justice sector.

He urged her to work with stakeholders to advance judicial reforms, protect the Constitution and preserve the legal profession’s role in a democratic society.

“I extend my hearty congratulations to the President-elect of the NBA for her victory. As the first elected female president of the Association of Lawyers in Nigeria, Mrs Badejo-Okusanya has made history,” Mr Tinubu stated.

“She has once again shown that our women can attain any heights in pursuit of excellence in their careers and ambitions, both in the private sector and in public service.”

President Tinubu also urged her to reach out to the other contestants, unite the Bar and address the issues that arose during the election.

“I wish you a successful tenure and service to the legal profession and our country at large,” he said.

Mrs Badejo-Okusanya was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002 after studying law at the University of Lagos and became a SAN in September 2025.

She will be the second woman to lead the 66-year-old NBA, after Priscilla Kuye, who served as president between 1991 and 1992.

She is expected to be sworn in as the 33rd president of the association at its Annual General Conference scheduled for 21 to 28 August in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Meanhile, lingering controversy has trailed the NBA election.

Mr Akangbe, who came second, rejected the process, describing it as “shambolic” and “a shame to the Bar.”

He said thousands of lawyers were unable to vote because of authentication failures, error messages and repeated disruptions to the electronic voting platform.

He also alleged that the ECNBA changed the election date without the approval of the NBA’s National Executive Council and failed to honour an agreement to postpone the poll to allow lawyers to familiarise themselves with a newly introduced SMS authentication system.

Mr Akangbe said the electronic ballot initially displayed only Mrs Badejo-Okusanya’s photograph, while those of the other presidential candidates were either omitted or failed to appear.

He further alleged that some members were able to vote more than once and said he was unable to cast his own vote despite repeated attempts.

He demanded the suspension of the election, the preservation of all electronic voting records and an independent forensic audit of the voting platform.

Mr Akangbe said he was consulting his team before deciding on his next steps.

The outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, took a different position, saying the election survived a coordinated cyberattack that nearly disrupted the process.

According to Mr Osigwe, the ECNBA and its technical team migrated to a secure server after the voting platform was disrupted, allowing the election to continue.

He urged members to put the contest behind them and called on the new officers to be magnanimous in victory.

“This is a time for healing. At the end of the day, the Bar must be the ultimate winner,” he said.

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Mr Osigwe said the ECNBA would conduct a comprehensive review of the election to examine the challenges encountered and strengthen the association’s future elections.

After her victory, Mrs Badejo-Okusanya thanked lawyers and members of her campaign for supporting her vision of “A Bolder Bar That Works for Everyone.”

She pledged to run an inclusive administration focused on the welfare of lawyers.

She also congratulated her opponents and said she was ready to work with them in the interest of the association.

“I will lead with integrity, courage, humility, fairness and accountability,” she said, adding that she would work towards an NBA where lawyers could “earn better, live better and practise better.”