NBA Makes History as Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya Becomes First Woman Elected President, Afam Okeke Wins General Secretary
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has entered a new chapter in its history with the election of Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, FCIArb, as its President-elect, making her the first woman ever elected to the Association’s highest office and only the second woman to lead Africa’s largest Bar.
Her victory comes 35 years after Dame Priscilla Kuye became the first female leader of the NBA under very different circumstances. Kuye assumed office in 1991 as First Vice-President following the resignation of the then NBA President, Chief Clement Akpamgbo, after his appointment as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. Badejo-Okusanya is therefore the first woman to secure the presidency through an electoral mandate of the Association’s membership.
Lawyers across the country also elected Afam O. Okeke as General Secretary, completing a leadership transition that followed one of the most fiercely contested and closely watched electoral cycles in the Association’s recent history.
The elections brought to an end weeks of intense campaigns and unprecedented controversies that tested the resilience of the NBA’s democratic institutions. The process was marked by litigation, interventions by the Attorney-General of the Federation, disagreements among influential Bar groups, public exchanges between candidates and supporters, and technical failures that forced the suspension of electronic voting before the Electoral Committee migrated the exercise to a new secured platform and successfully concluded the poll.
Against that turbulent backdrop, members of the Association eventually elected a new national leadership, signalling a determination to preserve the Bar’s democratic tradition despite the challenges that overshadowed the process.
In her first address after the declaration of results, Badejo-Okusanya thanked members of the Association for the confidence reposed in her, describing the outcome not as a personal triumph but as a collective victory for lawyers committed to building what she called “a Bolder Bar that works for everyone.”
“I am deeply humbled by your trust,” she said. “This victory belongs to all of us who believe in a Bolder Bar that works for everyone.”
She paid tribute to her fellow presidential contestants, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, and Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, for what she described as a robust democratic contest, while expressing appreciation to her campaign team, supporters, mentors, friends and family for standing by her throughout the election.
Declaring that “the campaign is over” and “the work begins now,” the President-elect pledged to serve every member of the Association with integrity, humility, courage and accountability.
She reaffirmed her commitment to improving the welfare and professional development of lawyers, saying her administration would pursue policies that enable members of the Bar to “earn better, live better and practise better.”
The election is widely regarded as a watershed in the history of the legal profession. Beyond breaking a 35-year gender barrier, Badejo-Okusanya’s emergence reflects the growing participation of NBA members in determining the leadership of their Association through its nationwide electronic voting system, reinforcing the principle that leadership should derive from the broad mandate of the membership.
Alongside the presidential election, Afam Okeke emerged victorious in the keenly contested race for General Secretary, defeating Dr. Rapulu Ernest Nduka, Chidi Ezenwafor, Okey Leo Ohagba, Nnaebuka Onyebuchi Nwaeze and Barth Okoye-Aniche.
In his acceptance message, Okeke thanked God, members of the Association, his campaign team and the Electoral Committee for the confidence reposed in him.
“My promise to you is simple,” he said. “I will serve with transparency, I will listen first, and I will work with everyone to deliver real results.”
Calling for unity after the election, he said the incoming Secretariat would be guided by inclusiveness and collaboration.
“The table is big enough for all of us,” he said, pledging to work with every segment of the profession in delivering an efficient and responsive Secretariat.
The emergence of Badejo-Okusanya and Okeke concludes an election season that will be remembered as much for the legal and technological questions it raised as for its eventual outcome. From courtroom disputes and debates over electoral procedures to concerns about the integrity of electronic voting and the resilience of digital infrastructure, the process generated searching conversations about the future of internal democracy within one of Nigeria’s most influential professional bodies.
Those debates are unlikely to end with the declaration of results. Many members are expected to continue pushing for reforms aimed at strengthening the credibility, transparency and security of future NBA elections.
For the incoming leadership, however, the immediate task extends well beyond electoral politics. Expectations are high that the new administration will address longstanding concerns over lawyers’ welfare, continuing professional development, remuneration for young lawyers, judicial independence, law reform, the protection of constitutional democracy and the Bar’s enduring role as the conscience of the nation.
The celebrations may therefore be brief. The election has delivered more than a new leadership; it has handed the incoming officers a profession looking for renewal after one of the most challenging electoral seasons in the Association’s history.
