LAGOS – Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, has emerged as the early frontrunner in the ongoing 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential election, according to provisional results released through the association’s electronic voting platform.
As lawyers across Nigeria continued casting their ballots on Saturday, Badejo-Okusanya maintained a clear lead over her fellow contenders in the closely watched race to succeed the outgoing NBA president.
The latest figures from the live results portal showed Badejo-Okusanya polling approximately 44 to 45 per cent of the votes counted, placing her ahead of Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN), who secured about 31 per cent, while Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN) followed with roughly 23 to 24 per cent.
Although the early results indicate a significant advantage for Badejo-Okusanya, the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) has stressed that the figures remain provisional as voting and vote collation continue.
The election, conducted electronically, experienced an unexpected setback after the ECNBA disclosed that its voting platform came under a cyberattack shortly before the commencement of the exercise. The security breach delayed the opening of the poll and prompted concerns among legal practitioners across the country.
In addition to the cyberattack, several lawyers reported experiencing difficulties receiving or validating the one-time passwords (OTPs) required to access the voting portal, temporarily affecting participation before the issues were gradually resolved.
Despite the technical challenges, voting resumed and participation steadily increased throughout the day. Data from the ECNBA’s election dashboard indicated that more than 82,000 lawyers were eligible to vote, with over 20,000 ballots successfully cast by Saturday afternoon, representing a voter turnout of approximately 24 per cent at the time.
The 2026 NBA presidential election has attracted significant attention within Nigeria’s legal community, with members closely monitoring the outcome because of its implications for judicial reforms, legal practice, the welfare of lawyers and the future direction of the association.
Should the current trend be sustained until the final declaration of results, Badejo-Okusanya would make history as only the second woman to be elected President of the Nigerian Bar Association, more than three decades after Dame Priscilla Kuye became the association’s first female president in 1991.
The ECNBA is expected to continue updating the electronic results portal as voting concludes and the remaining ballots are counted before announcing the official winner.
Lawyers and observers have been urged to rely only on updates released by the Electoral Committee, noting that the election remains ongoing and that the final outcome will be determined after the completion of the collation process.
