The President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, says she will resign if credible evidence emerges that the 2026 NBA presidential election was rigged, while disclosing that her attempts to reconcile with her opponents after the poll were unsuccessful.
Speaking during an interview on TVC News on Thursday, Badejo-Okusanya said she reached out to her rivals following the election but received little response.
“So, I reached out to one of them and visited him in his office and he politely asked me to leave.
“My other opponent, I called, he didn’t pick up and he hasn’t returned the call since. This was after he said that he had called me twice and I hadn’t replied, but that wasn’t true.”
Responding to allegations by some contestants and lawyers that the July 2026 NBA presidential election was manipulated in her favour, the senior advocate insisted that the electronic voting process was transparent and subjected to an unprecedented level of public scrutiny.
“The process that they say they cannot trust, my opponents are saying that it was rigged in my favour and thankfully, this electoral process has come under the greatest scrutiny that any of our elections have come under since we started universal suffrage and electronic voting,” she said.
According to her, the voting pattern showed no evidence of manipulation, vote dumping or sudden spikes that could suggest electoral fraud.
“From the time that I led, I led the election throughout consistently. There was never a time that I dropped down. There was never a time that any of my opponents passed me. I led consistently and the gap kept widening.
“The votes were trickling in organically. There was no evidence of dumping, which is what they say happens when there’s rigging going on. You didn’t suddenly see 20, 30, 50 votes coming.
“This election was the most watched. We have a system that refreshes every 10 seconds. People were watching and reposting. It was clear that there was no rigging,” she said.
Badejo-Okusanya also said she had no intention of remaining in office if the election that produced her was found to be flawed, drawing a distinction between her position and comparisons with former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who acknowledged shortcomings in the election that brought him to power.
“I had no desire to be a president whose electoral process, the process that brought me to power, was being questioned.
“I told my co-contestants in public that if there was any indication or allegation that the process that brought me to power was flawed, I wouldn’t even discuss it with anyone before I resigned. That still remains my goal,” she said.
Addressing claims that she enjoyed the backing of the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, Badejo-Okusanya said he never informed her that she was his preferred candidate.
“As a matter of fact, he never told me that.
“If he said it to anyone else, he never said it to me. I don’t know whether the cordiality and civility that he showed to me, whether I don’t have any impression that he wasn’t showing it to anyone else,” she said.
She also dismissed suggestions that her family ties to the Federal Government would compromise the independence of the association.
“How can I be the candidate of the Tinubu administration when the Tinubu administration is not a member of the NBA?” she asked.
Badejo-Okusanya said her loyalty would remain with members of the Bar.
“The constitution of the NBA is very clear. I read it very closely before I offered myself to serve. I’m well aware of the responsibilities of the president of the NBA, and I have the mandate of members of the NBA to lead them. My obligation is to them,” she said.
She added that she wants her tenure to be remembered for making the NBA more professionally relevant to its members and for defending the rule of law.
“For the members, I want them to remember my presidency as one that made the NBA more relevant to them professionally.
“For Nigerians, I want them to remember the NBA as one that took its responsibility to protect and promote the rule of law, to be the watchdog of society and to defend those who are less able to speak for themselves very, very seriously,” she said.
Badejo-Okusanya was declared winner of the July 2026 NBA presidential election after polling 12,317 votes, becoming the first woman elected president of the association.
However, the outcome has been challenged by some of her opponents. The first runner-up, Lateef Akangbe, SAN, described the election as “shambolic” and argued that it had damaged the image of the legal profession.
“We’ve become a laughingstock to the entire Nigeria. Politicians are looking at us, other professionals are looking at us and saying, ‘Look at these lawyers, they can’t even organise themselves. They can’t even conduct a credible election,'” Akangbe said in an earlier interview.
Another presidential candidate, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, also rejected the outcome, describing it as the worst election in the association’s history. He alleged that the voting portal crashed shortly after voting commenced and questioned the explanation that the disruption resulted from a cyberattack.