The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Sunday announced the conclusion of its 2026 national officers’ election, despite an early technical glitch and internal disputes that had trailed the process.
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Chairman of the NBA’s Electoral Committee, Chief Aham Ejelam, SAN, declared Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, winner of the presidential race after she polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast.
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Her closest rival, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, secured 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while a third contender, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, trailed with 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent). Ejelam said 26,106 votes were cast in all in the closely contested and disputed presidential poll.
With the outcome, Badejo-Okusanya becomes the 33rd President of the NBA and only the second woman to lead the association since it was founded in 1933, a feat the NBA described as re-enacting a 34-year-old history.
In the race for General Secretary, Mr. Afam Okeke emerged victorious with 8,478 votes, defeating his opponents. All newly elected officials will serve a two-year term running from 2026 to 2028.
Badejo-Okusanya was not present when the results were declared at the NBA’s Abuja headquarters. A member of her campaign team, Mr. Aminu Gadanya, SAN, told journalists she was held up by a flight delay but had pledged to extend a “handshake of friendship” to candidates aggrieved by the outcome.
Speaking after the announcement, outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, disclosed that the electoral process survived a cyberattack that nearly derailed it.
“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,” Osigwe said.
He called on the newly elected officials to be magnanimous in victory and to temper their celebrations, 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.
Osigwe added that the Electoral Committee would conduct an in-depth review of the challenges encountered during the process, particularly the cyberattack, with a view to strengthening confidence in future NBA 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. Someday the story will be told of how the ICT system had to be rebuilt and moved to a safer server to ensure that the election was held. The Bar must always protect its independence and eternally determine the course of its electoral process,” he said.
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