Lawyers elect Badejo-Okusanya as 33rd NBA president in national poll
Lawyers have elected Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the association’s national election conducted by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA).
The results, announced on Sunday at the NBA national secretariat in Abuja by ECNBA Chairman Aham Ejelam, showed that Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the total votes cast.
Her closest challenger, Lateef Akangbe, polled 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while the third candidate, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, received 5,855 votes, accounting for 22.43 per cent of the votes.
According to the ECNBA, 26,106 lawyers voted out of 82,172 registered voters, representing a turnout of 31.86 per cent.
Other national officers elected include Oghenero Okoro as first vice-president with 11,024 votes, Afam Okeke as general secretary with 8,478 votes, Aghogho Gladys as assistant general secretary with 14,312 votes, and Chinelo Ofoegbunam as welfare secretary after polling 14,911 votes.
Speaking after the declaration of the results, outgoing NBA President Afam Osigwe said the election survived attempts to undermine the process, including a cyberattack that forced the ECNBA 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,” he said.
He urged the newly elected officers to be magnanimous in victory and appealed to unsuccessful candidates to support the incoming leadership, stressing that the unity of the Bar must remain paramount.
Osigwe also disclosed that the ECNBA would conduct a comprehensive review of the election, focusing on the challenges encountered during the exercise, with the aim of strengthening future NBA elections, improving cybersecurity and enhancing the association’s electoral process.
