Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), emerging victorious in the association’s national election.
The results were announced on Sunday, July 19, at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja by the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA), Aham Ejelam.
According to the ECNBA, Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast, defeating her closest rival, Lateef Akangbe, who polled 7,934 votes, or 30.39 per cent. The third presidential candidate, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, garnered 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 per cent of the votes cast.
The committee disclosed that 26,106 votes were cast out of 82,172 registered voters, representing a voter turnout of 31.86 per cent.
The election also produced other national officers, with Oghenero Okoro elected as First Vice-President after polling 11,024 votes. Afam Okeke emerged as General Secretary with 8,478 votes, while Aghogho Gladys won the position of Assistant General Secretary with 14,312 votes. Chinelo Ofoegbunam was elected Welfare Secretary after securing 14,911 votes.
Speaking after the announcement of the results, outgoing NBA President Afam Osigwe revealed that the election survived attempts to disrupt 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,” Osigwe said, describing the exercise as one of the most challenging in the association’s history.
He urged the newly elected officers to be magnanimous in victory and called on unsuccessful candidates to support the incoming leadership in the interest of the association.
“To those who won, be magnanimous in victory; for those who lost, there is always another day. The cyberattack shows that we must do more in data protection. Let us collectively do things in an acceptable manner,” he stated.
Osigwe also disclosed that the ECNBA would conduct a comprehensive post-election review to examine the challenges encountered during the exercise and recommend measures to strengthen future NBA elections, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and electoral administration.
He stressed that the unity of the Nigerian Bar Association must remain paramount, expressing confidence that the new leadership would build on the association’s achievements and address areas requiring improvement.