*Tours Secretariat, Meets Staff
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The newly inaugurated President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, has formally assumed office, beginning her two-year tenure with a tour of the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja, prayers with her team and an interactive meeting with members of staff.
Badejo-Okusanya, who is the 33rd President of the NBA, reflected on her first day in office in a statement on Tuesday, describing the experience as the moment the reality of taking responsibility for the association fully set in.
Her first official engagement was a handover tour of NBA House with her predecessor, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, who served as the 32nd President of the association.
“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,” she said.
According to her, the conclusion of the tour marked an emotional transition from one administration to another.
“Then came the farewell and the quiet realisation that the baton had truly changed hands,” she added.
After returning to her office, Badejo-Okusanya said she and members of her team commenced the new administration with prayers before proceeding to official business.
“I returned to the office, and we began with prayer. Then, we got to work,” she said.
She subsequently held an interactive meeting with members of staff of the National Secretariat as her administration began the process of translating its campaign commitments and policy priorities into programmes for the association.
Reflecting on the day, Badejo-Okusanya said leadership should not be measured merely by the moment a person assumes office but by the actions taken after responsibility has been entrusted to them.
“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,” she stated.
Badejo-Okusanya emerged winner of the 2026 NBA national officers’ election after defeating Lateef Akangbe, SAN, and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN.
She polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 per cent of the votes cast, while Akangbe received 7,934 votes and Akinboro garnered 5,855 votes.
The electronically conducted election encountered technical challenges, including a reported cyberattack which disrupted the process and required the electoral committee to rebuild parts of its information and communications technology infrastructure before voting was concluded.
The results were announced in July 2026 at the NBA National Secretariat in Abuja.
Her emergence made her the first woman to be directly elected President of the NBA by members of the association and the second woman to lead the Bar after Priscilla Kuye, who served as NBA President from 1991 to 1992.
Badejo-Okusanya formally succeeded Osigwe following her inauguration as the 33rd President of the association in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
At her inauguration, she pledged to lead all members of the NBA irrespective of which candidate they supported during the election, insisting that there would be no division between winners and losers under her administration.
She also promised to place the welfare and economic wellbeing of lawyers at the centre of her presidency, with particular attention to younger and vulnerable members of the profession.
Electoral reform is also expected to feature prominently in the new administration.
Badejo-Okusanya has announced the establishment of an Election Reform Committee chaired by Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, with a mandate to examine the NBA’s electoral system and recommend measures aimed at strengthening transparency, credibility and confidence in future elections.
She has equally warned lawyers against abusive and insulting conduct on social media, particularly attacks directed at colleagues, saying conduct capable of bringing the legal profession into disrepute could attract disciplinary attention.
Her assumption of office marks the formal commencement of the new NBA administration, with the President now expected to begin implementing her agenda on lawyers’ welfare, electoral reform, professional standards, institutional accountability and the broader development of the Nigerian Bar.
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