The newly inaugurated President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, has officially commenced her two-year tenure with a visit to the association’s national secretariat and a meeting with members of staff.
Badejo-Okusanya, who is the 33rd president of the NBA, documented her first day in office in a statement issued on Tuesday, reflecting on the transition from her predecessor, Afam Osigwe, SAN.
She began the day with a tour of NBA House alongside Osigwe, who served as the association’s 32nd president. During the tour, Osigwe took her around the National Secretariat and introduced her to staff members.
“Together with my predecessor, Afam Osigwe, SAN, the 32nd President of the NBA, I toured NBA House, where he took me through the National Secretariat and introduced me to members of staff.
“Then came the farewell and the quiet realisation that the baton had truly changed hands,” she said.
Following the handover, Badejo-Okusanya returned to her office, where she and her team commenced the administration with prayers before turning their attention to official responsibilities.
“I returned to the office, and we began with prayer. Then, we got to work,” she said.
The new NBA president also held an interactive session with staff of the National Secretariat as she began setting the machinery of her administration in motion and working towards the implementation of her vision for the association.
Reflecting on the significance of taking over the leadership of the NBA, Badejo-Okusanya said the experience reinforced her view that true leadership was demonstrated through actions after responsibility had been entrusted to an individual.
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“My first day in office reminded me of something I have always believed:
“Leadership is not the moment you receive the baton. It is what you do with it after you receive it.”
Badejo-Okusanya emerged as the winner of the 2026 NBA national officers’ election, defeating Lateef Akangbe, SAN, and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN.
She secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast. Akangbe received 7,934 votes, while Akinboro polled 5,855 votes.
The electronic election encountered technical difficulties and a cyberattack, leading the electoral committee to rebuild its information and communications technology system before completing the voting process.
The election results were announced on July 19, 2026, at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja.
Her election made her the second woman to occupy the NBA presidency after Priscilla Kuye, who served between 1991 and 1992. She is, however, the first woman to be directly elected by members of the association to lead the NBA.
She took over from Osigwe after being inaugurated as the 33rd president during a ceremony in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
During her inauguration, Badejo-Okusanya pledged to provide leadership for all NBA members regardless of who they supported during the election.
She also identified the economic wellbeing of lawyers, particularly vulnerable members of the profession, as one of her priorities, while promising to pursue reforms aimed at improving the association’s electoral system.
As part of her reform agenda, she announced the creation of an election reform committee chaired by Babatunde Ajibade, SAN. The committee is expected to review the NBA’s electoral process and propose measures to improve future elections.
Badejo-Okusanya also cautioned lawyers against making abusive or insulting comments about colleagues on social media, warning that such conduct could lead to public proceedings for bringing the association into disrepute.
Her assumption of office formally begins a new two-year administration, with the new NBA leadership expected to implement its programmes and reforms for the association and the wider legal profession.