Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya Makes History as NBA's First Elected Female President

If you have been anywhere near Nigerian legal Twitter or a lawyers' WhatsApp group this past week, you already know the name Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya. On Saturday, July 18, she was elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and in doing so, became the first woman in the association's history to reach the office through a direct vote. Here is how it happened, and why it matters.

The Election

The NBA's 2026 national officers' election drew a genuinely large turnout: 26,106 lawyers cast ballots. Badejo-Okusanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, went up against two other SANs for the top seat: Lateef Akangbe and Olumuyiwa Akinboro.

When the votes were tallied, Badejo-Okusanya had pulled ahead comfortably. She polled 12,317 votes (47.18%), Akangbe followed with 7,934 (30.39%), and Akinboro closed out the field with 5,855 (22.43%). The result was announced by the Chairman of the NBA's Electoral Committee, Aham Ejelam, SAN, at the association's National Secretariat in Abuja, a day after polls closed.

First, But Not Quite the First

Here is the interesting fact worth knowing before you repeat the headline everyone else is running with: Badejo-Okusanya is the first woman to win the NBA presidency by election, but she is technically the second woman to hold the office.

That distinction belongs to Dame Priscilla Kuye, who led the NBA briefly between 1991 and 1992. Kuye was serving as First Vice President when then-President Clement Akpamgbo was appointed Attorney-General of the Federation under the Babangida military administration. Akpamgbo's exit meant Kuye moved into the presidency automatically, not through a vote. Badejo-Okusanya's win is different in exactly that respect: she earned it at the ballot box, against real competition, in a contested race.

What She's Saying

In her first remarks after the declaration, Badejo-Okusanya pledged to prioritise the welfare of lawyers across the country, promising to push for better earnings, improved working conditions, and expanded professional opportunities for members. According to a message she posted on X after the result was announced, she described her win as a collective achievement, not just a personal one, for lawyers who believed in a more inclusive and progressive NBA.

President Bola Tinubu congratulated her shortly after results were announced, calling her emergence a watershed moment for the legal profession and a demonstration of what merit and gender inclusion can look like in practice.

What This Means

For an association with 33 presidents and only one woman ever at the helm before now, and one who arrived there by circumstance rather than a vote, this result lands differently. It is not just a symbolic first. It is proof that a woman can build a coalition large enough to win a genuinely contested national election within one of Africa's largest bar associations.

Badejo-Okusanya will serve a two-year term, from 2026 to 2028, succeeding Afam Osigwe. Whether her tenure lives up to the weight of this moment is a story Thrive will be watching closely.