Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, on Sunday, July 19th, was elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), becoming the second woman to lead the legal body in its over six-decade history.
TheNewsGuru earlier reported that Badejo-Okusanya’s emergence marked a remarkable milestone for the association, as she is the second woman to be elected NBA president since Mrs Priscilla Kuye, who served from 1991 to 1992.
Recall that Kuye was elected 1st Vice President and assumed office as president following the appointment of the president, Clement Akpamgbo, as AGF.
Badejo-Okusanya emerged victorious in the NBA’s 2026 national officers’ election after defeating two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria in a closely contested poll.
Speaking after her emergence, Badejo-Okusanya expressed gratitude to the members of the association who elected her to lead the bar. She also described her victory as a mandate to build a stronger, more inclusive and responsive NBA.
“Thank you, everyone, for believing in our shared vision of a bolder bar that can work for everybody. This victory i s not for only me, but for everyone who believes that our association can be stronger, more inclusive, more responsive and better positioned to serve the interests of all lawyers”, she said.
Facts about the New NBA president
Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002 after she obtained her law degree from the University of Lagos.
She started her legal career in Olaniwun Ajayi LP and became Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the highest honour in the Nigerian legal profession, on 29 September 2025.
In 2007, former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola appointed her as a senior aide on Justice Sector Reform. She also served as General Counsel to the governor from 2011 to 2015.
Currently, she is a partner for ALP NG & Co. (Africa Law Practice NG & Company), where she serves as Co-Head of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice.
She is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the African Arbitration Association, Arbitral Women, the International Bar Association (IBA), and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), among others.