Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has been elected the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), becoming the first woman to win the office through a direct vote of members and only the second female to lead the association in its more than 60-year history.
Results of the NBA’s electronic election showed Badejo-Okusanya secured 12,317 votes, representing 47.18% of the total ballots cast, defeating fellow Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Lateef Akangbe, who polled 7,934 votes, and Olumuyiwa Akinboro, who received 5,855 votes.
Her victory marks a historic milestone for the legal profession in Nigeria, ending decades of male leadership through an electoral process.
Badejo-Okusanya succeeds to the NBA presidency after a distinguished legal career spanning more than two decades in litigation, arbitration, commercial law, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution.
She is the second woman to head the NBA after Priscilla Kuye, who assumed office through constitutional succession following the resignation of then-President Clement Akpamgbo. Badejo-Okusanya, however, becomes the first woman elected directly by members of the association.
Born on 15 January 1967, Badejo-Okusanya comes from a family with a strong academic background. Her father, the late Professor Olufolabi Olumide, was a renowned surgeon and the first Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, while her mother, Clara Folasade Abiodun Olumide, made history as the first female Registrar of the University of Lagos.
She initially earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Lagos before studying Law at the same institution. She was later called to the Nigerian Bar after completing her training at the Nigerian Law School and went on to obtain a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Commercial and Corporate Law from Queen Mary University of London.
Badejo-Okusanya began her legal career at Olaniwun Ajayi LP before becoming a founding partner at Africa Law Practice NG & Company, where she co-heads the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice.
She also served in the Lagos State Government between 2007 and 2015 under former Governor Babatunde Fashola, first as Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform and later as General Counsel to the Governor. During her tenure, she played key roles in justice sector reforms, arbitration legislation, consumer protection initiatives and public-private partnership projects.
Her election is widely seen as a landmark moment for the NBA, reflecting growing calls for greater gender representation in leadership within Nigeria’s legal profession.
