Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has been elected as the 33rd president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
She will succeed the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), following her victory in the association’s presidential election conducted through electronic voting.
Badejo-Okusanya, the only female candidate in the three-way contest, secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the 26,106 valid ballots cast, according to the final results released by the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).
She defeated Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN), who polled 7,934 votes (30.39 per cent), while Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) finished third with 5,855 votes (22.43 per cent).
With her victory, Badejo-Okusanya becomes only the second woman to lead the NBA in the association’s 66-year history, following Priscilla Kuye, who served as president between 1991 and 1992.
The NBA is expected to inaugurate its newly elected national officers during its Annual General Conference, scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, between August 21 and August 28.
Badejo-Okusanya was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002 after earning a law degree from the University of Lagos, where she had earlier obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English.
She began her legal career at Olaniwun Ajayi LP and was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the highest distinction in the Nigerian legal profession, on September 29, 2025.
In 2007, she was appointed Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform to the then Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola. She served in the office of the then Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olasupo Shasore.
She is a member of several professional organisations, including the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the African Arbitration Association, ArbitralWomen, the International Bar Association (IBA), the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), and a Life Member of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA). She also serves on the Board of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA).
Within the NBA, Badejo-Okusanya has held numerous leadership positions, including Assistant Secretary of the NBA Lagos Branch, Delegate to the 2006 NBA Elections, member of the NBA Lagos Branch Building Committee, Future of the Legal Profession Committee, Conference Investigation Committee, Alternate Chair of the 2023 Annual General Conference Planning Committee, and Chair of the 2024 Annual General Conference Planning Committee.
She was co-opted into the NBA National Executive Council in 2022 and received the NBA Presidential Medal of Service in August 2024.
In 2017, she became a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Company, where she currently serves as Co-Head of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice. The firm is recognised as one of Nigeria’s leading commercial law firms, with affiliations across Africa.