The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has announced Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, as winner of its 2026 presidential election, making her the second woman to lead the association since it was founded in 1933.
Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Chief Aham Ejelam, SAN, announced the results on Sunday, disclosing that Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 percent, to defeat her closest rival, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, who scored 7,934 votes, representing 30.39 percent.
The third contender, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, came third with 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 percent.
Ejelam said a total of 26,106 votes were cast in the keenly contested presidential race.
With her victory, Badejo-Okusanya becomes the 33rd President of the NBA, repeating history 34 years after a woman first held the position.
In a related development, Afam Okeke was elected General Secretary of the association after polling 8,478 votes to defeat other contenders.
All newly elected officers will serve a two-year term running from 2026 to 2028.
Badejo-Okusanya was not present at the NBA national secretariat in Abuja when the results were announced. A member of her campaign team, Aminu Gadanya, SAN, explained that she was held up by a flight delay, but relayed her intention to extend a “handshake of friendship” to all aggrieved candidates.
Speaking after the announcement, outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, said the election was marred by several challenges, including a cyberattack that nearly disrupted the process.
“Many went to great lengths to truncate the electoral process. They maligned the process with their utterances, but we held firm. Every effort to derail the process failed,” he said.
Osigwe urged the winners to exercise restraint in celebrating their victory, describing the period as a trying time for the Bar that called for healing rather than triumphalism.
“This is a trying time for the Bar. Many persons may still go to great lengths to rubbish the association. However, this is a time for healing. At the end of the day, let the Bar be the winner,” he said.
He added that the Electoral Committee would conduct a thorough review of the challenges encountered during the process, particularly the cyberattack, to strengthen confidence in future elections.
“The cyberattack shows that we must do more, not only for data protection, but to protect our electoral integrity. We must insulate our electoral process from such activities,” Osigwe said, adding that the ICT system had to be rebuilt and relocated to a safer server to enable the election to hold.
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