Badejo-Okusanya Leads NBA Election, Nears Historic First Female Presidency

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has taken an early lead in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, moving closer to becoming the association’s first elected female president.

Early results also showed Mr Afam Okeke leading the race for the office of General Secretary ahead of five other candidates.

Voting resumed at 7:35 a.m. on Saturday after the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) migrated the election portal to a new, secure domain following technical failures that disrupted the process in the early hours of the day.

In a statement, ECNBA Chairman Aham Ejelam (SAN) and Secretary Ibrahim Aliyu Nassarawa said the original platform had come under a “deliberate, coordinated and sustained cyberattack” aimed at disrupting the election.

The committee said its cybersecurity team and Election Voting Service Provider (EVSP) immediately activated emergency security measures to contain the attack and restore the platform. It also assured members that no votes were recorded during the disruption and that voting only resumed after the system had been secured.

According to the ECNBA, the election remained under its supervision throughout the process, with candidates, agents and observers monitoring proceedings from the designated election centre.

The committee announced that voting on the new platform would remain open for 24 hours from its commencement at 7:35 a.m. on Saturday.

A statement posted on the NBA’s official X account confirmed that voting would close at 7:35 a.m. on Sunday.

Badejo-Okusanya is contesting the presidency alongside Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN) and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) to succeed the incumbent NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN).

Out of 82,164 registered voters, the real-time election dashboard showed that as of 11 p.m., Badejo-Okusanya was leading with 11,352 votes, representing 46.69 per cent of the 24,314 votes cast. Akangbe followed with 7,415 votes (30.50 per cent), while Akinboro polled 5,547 votes (22.81 per cent).

In the General Secretary election, Afam Okeke was in front with 4,054 votes, ahead of Dr Rapulu Ernest Nduka, who had 3,452 votes. Chidi Ezenwafor ranked third with 2,553 votes, followed by Okey Leo Ohagba with 2,317 votes, while Nnaebuka Onyebuchi Nwaeze and Barth Okoye-Aniche trailed with 544 and 396 votes respectively.

If Badejo-Okusanya secures victory, she will become the first woman to be elected president of the NBA. Although Mrs Priscilla Kuye previously served as the association’s first female president, she assumed office after the elected president, Chief Clement Akpamgbo, became Attorney General of the Federation under the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida (retd).

Ahead of the election, NBA President Afam Osigwe dismissed allegations of interference, insisting that the ECNBA operates independently and takes no directives from him.

He also denied claims that he was backing any candidate, describing the allegations as politically motivated and lacking evidence.

The election followed weeks of controversy over its conduct, with some candidates and stakeholders demanding a postponement, mandatory National Identification Number (NIN) verification for voters, and raising concerns about the integrity of the process.

Osigwe rejected the allegations, maintaining that only the ECNBA has the constitutional authority to conduct NBA elections and noting that previous claims of election manipulation had never been proven in court.